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THE   KENDALS 


Plift,,    hi,  JUinyiKit. 


[Frontispiece. 


THE   KENDALS 


A    BIOGRAPHY 


T.    EDGAR   PEMBERTON 

AUTHOR  OF   "A  MEMOIR   OF  E.  A.  SOTHERN,"   "  THE   LIFE  AND   WRITINGS  OF 

T.  W.  ROBERTSON,"  "  CHARLES  DICKENS  AND  THE   STAGE," 

"  JOHN  HARE,  COMEDIAN,"  &C.,  &C. 


NEW   YOEK 
DODD,    MEAD   AND   COMPANY 


PKEF.ACE 

II /r ANY  years  have  elapsed  since  my  old  friend 
Mrs.  Kendal  promised  me  that  "in  the 
days  to  come  "  I  should  write  the  story  of  her 
life;  and  ever  since  then  I  have  been  indus- 
triously collecting  material  for  it ;  a  task  made 
easy  for  me  by  reason  of  my  close,  constant,  and 
valued  friendship  with  her  and  her  husband. 

In  1893,  after  he  had  published  my  lives  of 
E.  A.  Sothern  and  T.  W.  Eobertson,  the  late 
Mr.  George  Bentley,  of  the  firm  of  Messrs. 
Eichard  Bentley  &  Son,  asked  me  if  I  could 
give  him  a  book  on  "  The  Kendals."  I  con- 
sulted my  friends,  on  all  sides  willingness  was 
expressed,  but  it  was  ultimately  decided  that 
the  time  for  the  work  had  not  arrived. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present  year  the 
necessary  consent  from  "  The  Kendals "  was 
given,  and  I  commenced  my  narrative. 

V 

M3A724.2 


vi  PREFACE 

Now  it  happened  that,  when  it  was  too  late 
for  me  to  "go  back,"  Mrs.  Kendal  grew  nervous, 
declaring  (which  is  true)  that  except  in  the 
exercise  of  her  art  she  had  never  courted  pub- 
licity, and  that,  through  pure  diffidence,  she 
would  rather  her  Life  should  remain  unwritten. 

"  Write  my  husband's  Life  if  you  desire,"  she 
wrote  to  me,  "and  only  mention  me  as  you 
would  any  other  actress  he  has  played  with. 
His  career  should  be  written,  and  he  does  not 
mind,  only  ignore  me  as  much  as  you  possibly 
can  !     I  prefer  it.'' 

Naturally  I  am  anxious  to  fulfil  Mrs.  Kendal's 
wishes,  but  I  fear  in  the  pages  that  follow  she 
may  not  be  "ignored"  in  proportion  with  her 
desire.  If  this  causes  her — and  (as  a  matter  of 
consequence)  me — annoyance,  I  shall  at  least 
have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  my  friend 
Kendal  will  forgive  me  for  picturing  his  accom- 
plished wife  in  the  position  she  fills  so  worthily 
and  well,  and  of  which  he  is  justly  proud. 

We  all  know  that  Charles  Dickens's  Mr.  Dick 
could  never  keep  the  head  of  King  Charles  I.  out 
of  his  Memorial.  If  in  like  manner  I  cannot 
banish  the   gracious   presence   of   Mrs.    Kendal 


PREFACE  vii 

from  my  chapters,  I  hope  I  shall  lind  numbers 

of  trusty  Betsy  Trotwoods  to  certify  that  I  am 

"not  out  of  my  mind  " — and  of  kindly  readers 

to  echo  as  she  did  "  he  sets  us  all  right." 

Indeed   my  excuse   might   be   found   in   Mr. 

Kendal's  own  words  on  his  leavetaking  of  the 

St.    James's    Theatre    in    1888.     ''With    Mrs. 

Kendal  we    have    done   what   we   have    done ; 

without  her,  we  could,  indeed,  have   done  but 

little." 

T.  EDGAR  PEMBERTON. 

August  11,  1899. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGE 

WILLIAM    HUNTKR,    GRIMSTON         ....  1 

CHAFTP^R   II. 
THE    ROBERTSONS  .  .  .  .  .13 

CHAPTER   HI. 
MARGARET    SHAFTO    ROBERTSON  .  .  .33 

CHAPTER   IV. 
THE    H.AYMARKET    COMPANY  .  .  .  .53 

CHAPTER    V. 
"  ON    THE    wing"  ....  79 

CHAPTER   VI. 
ST.    .lAMES's    THEATRE,    1879-1884  .  .  .       127 

CHAPTER    VII. 

THE    SOCIAL    SCIENCE     CONGRESS  .  .  .       165 

ix 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE 

ST.  James's  theatre,  1884-1888         .  .  .     205 

CHAPTER   IX. 
AMERICA  ......      233 

CHAPTER   X. 
"  THE    KENDALS    AT    HOME  "  .  .  .  .      297 

CHAPTER   XI. 

picking  up  the  threads         ....     315 
Index     .  .  .  .  .  .  .335 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


MR.    AND    MRS.    KENDAL            .                  .                  .  FvOlltispiece 
THE    BIRMINGHAM    INN,  WHERE    KENDAL    AND    BANCROFT 

SUPPED  IN  1862  .  .To  face  page     4 

KENDAL's    BIRMINGHAM    LODGINGS                     .  ,,                  10 

MRS.    KENDAL,    1886                 .                  .                  .  ,,                  36 

MR.    AND    MRS.    KENDAL    IN    "  WILLIAM    AND 

SUSAN"                ....  ,,82 

MRS.  KENDAL  AS  "  ROSALIND  "    .       .  ,,       98 

MR.  AND  MRS.  KENDAL  IN  "A  SCRAP  OF 

PAPER  "       .       .       .       .  ,,      106 

MR.    KENDAL    IN    "A    SCRAP    OF    PAPER"       .  ,,               122 

MR.      KENDAL     IN     "A      SHEEP      IN      WOLF's 

clothing"      .               .               .               .  ,,            144 

MR.     AND     MRS.     KENDAL      IN     "THE     IRON- 
MASTER"           ....  ,,               162 
xi 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTBATIONS 

.   To  face  page  208 


UJi.    KENDAL  AS  "  ORLANDO 

MK.  AND  MBS.  KENDAL  IN  "ANTOINETTE 
RIGAUD  "      . 

ME.  AND  MRS.  KENDAL  IN  "LADY  CLANCAETY 

MR.  AND  MRS.  KENDAL  IN  "DIPLOMACY" 

MR.  AND  MRS.  KENDAL  IN  "DIPLOMACY" 

MRS.  KENDAL  IN  1899 

ME.  KENDAL  IN  1899 


214 

224 
240 
274 
320 
328 


CHAPTER   I 

WILLIAM  HUNTEE   GEIMSTON 

WILLIAM  HUNTER  GRIMSTON,  the  son 
^  ^  of  an  artist,  was  born  in  London  on 
December  16,  1843.  The  artistic  instinct 
was  in  him,  and  grew  with  him,  and  no  doubt 
his  first  longing  was  for  palette,  brush,  and 
easel.  But,  in  view  of  the  difficulties  and  dis- 
appointments they  have  had  to  encounter  and 
overcome,  English  fathers  rarely  recommend 
their  sons  to  follow  their  calling,  and  it  was 
decided  that  the  boy  should  be  educated  for  the 
medical  profession.  The  boy  grew  up  to  the 
young"  man,  working  for  his  examinations,  and 
gaining  experience  at  hospitals,  but  his  natural 
bent  was  continually  asserting  itself,  and  when- 
ever he  had  an  idle  hour  his  pencil  was  in  his 
hand  and  his  sketch-book  on  his  knee.  Indeed 
it  was  with  the  object  of  making  sketches  of  the 

performers  in  a  burlesque  of  "  Billy  Taylor,  or 
2  1 


2  THE  KENDALS 

the  Gay  Young  Fellow,"  that  he  betook  himself 
on  an  eventful  evening  in  1861  to  the  Eoyal 
Soho  (now  the  Eoyalty)  Theatre  in  Dean  Street, 
Soho.  Mr.  Mowbray,  the  manager  of  the 
theatre,  and  the  author  of  the  burlesque,  saw 
the  young  artist  at  his  work,  recognised  its 
cleverness,  and  good-naturedly  gave  him  free 
use  of  the  house,  both  before  and  behind  the 
curtain,  for  its  continuance.  And  this  is  how 
it  came  about  that  William  Hunter  Grimston 
yielded  to  the  fascinating  beams  of  the  foot- 
lights, and,  for  the  first  time,  longed  to  be  an 
actor. 

Mr.  Mowbray,  who  at  about  this  time  had 
such  coming  celebrities  as  Miss  Ellen  Terry, 
David  James,  Charles  Wyndham,  and  H.  J. 
Montague  in  his  company,  was  quite  willing  to 
give  the  handsome  and  in  every  way  attractive 
young  fellow  his  chance,  and  on  Saturday, 
April  6,  1861,  we  find  a  hitherto  unknown 
"Mr.  Kendall"  (the  name  was  spelt  with  two 
"I's  "  then)  figuring  in  the  bills  as  Louis  XIV. 
in  a  play  called  "A  Life's  Revenge."  In 
those  days  the  stage  was  not  recognised  (as  it 
happily  is  at  the  end  of  our  century)  as  one  of 
the  artistic  professions,  and  with  young  men  of 
birth  and  breeding  who  resolved  to  try  a  throw 


WTLLTAM  HUNTER   GBIMSTON  3 

with  fortune  upon  it,  it  was  the  custom  to 
assume  a  name.  Two  reasons  have  been 
assigned  for  young  Grimston's  choice  of 
"Kendal,"  or  "Kendall."  Mr.  Mowbray  was 
consulted,  and  that  ingenious  gentleman  thought 
in  the  first  place  that  "Kendal"  was  happily 
like  the  famous  theatrical  name  of  Kemble ; 
and  in  the  second,  that  as  Garrick  and 
Grimston  both  began  with  a  "  G,"  and  as  the 
great  David  made  his  first  appearance  behind 
the  Ipswich  footlights  under  the  nam  de  guerre 
of  "Lyddol,"  that  of  "Kendall"  might  be  of 
happy  omen. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  remained  for  the  young 
aspirant  to  make  the  name  of  Kendal  affection- 
ately borne  in  mind,  and  familiar  as  a  household 
word,  in  two  hemispheres. 

For  some  twelve  months  he  stayed  at  the 
Soho  Theatre,  but  now,  having  definitely  de- 
cided on  his  career,  he  was  wise  and  courageous 
enough  to  see  that  some  rough,  useful  work  in  a 
provincial  stock  company  would  be  of  far  more 
service  to  him  than  the  easier  and  more  attrac- 
tive life  of  playing  comparatively  minor  parts  at 
a  West-end  London  theatre. 

Accordingly,  in  the  spring  of  1862  he  pluckily 
accepted  an  offer,  at  a  ridiculous  salary,  to  join 


4  THE  KENDAL S 

what  was  by  courtesy  called  the  "  stock  com- 
pany "  at  the  Moor  Street  Theatre,  Birmingham, 
a  badly  built  and  badly  managed  structure  in  a 
most  disagreeable  locality.  I  well  remember 
the  wretched  place  and  the  crude  method  of  its 
productions.  But  for  a  determined  young  actor 
who  wanted  plenty  of  hard  work,  and  absolutely 
courted  the  useful  practice  that  a  constant 
change  of  parts  gives,  it  suited  its  purpose  well 
— and  Mr.  Kendal  never  faltered,  and  with 
praiseworthy  vigour  attacked  the  curious  experi- 
ences that  commenced  with  a  small  part  in  the 
ghastly  drama  of  "  Sweeney  Tod ;  or,  the  Demon 
Barber  of  Fleet  Street."  Many  years  after  this, 
and  when  he  was  fulfilling  one  of  his  brilHant 
Birmingham  engagements,  he  took  me  to  see  a 
dingy  little  lodging-house  which  he  made  his 
home  in  the  "  Sweeney  Tod  days,"  and  told  me 
how  at  the  same  time  his  comrade  Bancroft 
(now  Sir  Squire  Bancroft)  was  doing  his  'prentice 
work  at  the  Birmingham  Theatre  Eoyal ;  and 
he  pointed  out  a  very  modest  tavern  in  which 
the  two  on  a  famous  Saturday  night  celebrated 
a  sHght  advance  in  their  poor  salaries  by 
indulging  in  the  almost  unheard-of  extrava- 
gance of  a  beefsteak  supper  !  In  still  later  days 
Sir  Squire  Bancroft,  who  oddly  enough  did  not 


THE  BIRMINGHAM  INN, 
WHEKE  KENDAL  AND  BANCROFT  SUPPED  IN  1SG2. 


WILLIAM  HUNTER   GRIMSTON  5 

revisit  Birmingham  until  he  was  at  the  height 
of  his  fame  (not,  indeed,  until  he  had  practically 
retired  from  the  stage)  took  me  on  a  similar 
prowl,  and  looked  quite  affectionately  on  the 
dismal  "  diggings  "  in  which  he  had  made  the 
best  of  things  in  the  anxious  days  of  long  ago. 
His  first  appearance  had  been  (hidden  under  a 
huge  grotesque  mask)  in  a  non-speaking  part  in 
a  Christmas  pantomime,  and  he  seemed  quite 
pleased  when  I  told  him  (he  had  forgotten  it) 
the  outlandish  title  of  the  production,  and  how  I 
remembered  it  well,  and  possessed  the  playbill 
recording  his  initial  attempt.  From  this  it  will 
be  seen  that  these  two  gently  nurtured  and 
highly  cultured  young  fellows,  having  decided 
on  their  own  paths  in  life,  were  absolutely  deter- 
mined not  to  prey  upon  their  friends  but  to 
swim  or  sink  upon  their  earnings.  That  is  how 
good  actors  were  made  in  the  despised  "  early 
sixties." 

How  different  are  things  to-day  when,  after  a 
few  feeble  amateur  efforts,  well-dressed  young 
gentlemen  not  only  think  themselves  fitted  for 
the  stage  but,  provided  they  are  in  command  of 
money  or  influence,  absolutely  secure  London 
engagements  ! 

My   friend  Edward    Saker    once   told    me    a 


6  THE  KENDALS 

droll  story  of  a  witless  stage  aspirant  of  this 
class  whom,  against  his  better  judgment,  he 
was  induced  to  engage  during  his  actor- 
managership  of  the  Alexandra  Theatre,  Liver- 
pool. The  superfine  and  absolutely  self-satisfied 
young  gentleman  blundered  through  a  few 
rehearsals,  but  when  the  evening  for  his  first 
appearance  arrived  did  not  come  to  the  theatre. 
He  had  not  left  his  address,  and  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but,  at  a  moment's  notice,  to  send 
on  a  quick  understudy  to  play  his  part.  The 
next  evening  he  turned  up,  and  when  asked  for 
his  excuse,  he  said,  "  Oh,  I  say  you  know,  it  was 
such  a  beastly  wet  night,  you  know,  that  a  fellow 
really  couldn't  turn  out !  " 

I  have  heard  Mrs.  Kendal  laugh,  too,  over  her 
experiences  with  a  similarly  constituted  would- 
be  actor  who  asked  her  and  her  husband  to  give 
him  an  engagement  on  the  strength  of  the  fact 
that  he  had  just  been  appearing  with  one  of  our 
most  noted  actors  in  an  important  Shakespearean 
revival  at  a  leading  London  theatre.  She  good- 
naturedly  said,  "Let  me  hear  you  recite  some- 
thing, and  then  perhaps  I  can  tell  you  if  I  can 
help  you."  His  reply  was  that  "he  did  not 
think  he  could  remember  anything  at  that 
moment."     "  But,"  said  Mrs.  Kendal,  "you  can 


WILLIAM  HUNTER   GRIMSTON  7 

surely  give  me  the  lines  that  you  have  been 
repeating  at  this  great  Shakespearean  pro- 
duction !  "  Then  came  the  ridiculous  but  per- 
fectly self-confident  admission  that  the  part 
with  which  he  had  been  entrusted  was  not  a 
speaking  one ! 

Indeed  these  days  are  different  to  those  in 
which  young  Kendal  and  his  compeers  worked, 
and,  by  dint  of  self-sacrificing  enthusiasm  for 
the  art  they  loved,  and  were  determined  at  any 
cost  to  follow,  fitted  themselves  to  become  the 
finest  actors  of  to-day. 

Well  might  Mr.  W.  S.  Gilbert  say  when,  in 
his  own  inimitable  manner,  he  indulged  in 
rhymed  reminiscence  at  the  famous  Lydia 
Thompson  benefit  given  at  the  Lyceum  in  the 
early  part  of  the  present  year — the  beneficiare 
speaking  his  lines  : — 


"  What  changes  here  I  see  since  that  dim  age 
When  little  Goldenhair  tripped  on  the  stage  ! 
The  Drama,  struggling  then  in  lodgings  shady, 
Has  made  her  fortune,  and  is  quite  the  lady, 
With  endless  hosts  of  highly  cultured  friends. 
Think  how  she  dresses  now,  and  what  she  spends 
On  vast  dramatic  shrines — in  sumptuous  salaries, 
In  real  Venetian-leathered  pits  and  galleries — 
In  plays  that  run  a  year  to  houses  packed. 
And  cost,  to  stage,  a  thousand  pounds  an  Act ! 


8  THE  KENDALS 

Stage-management — that  has  advanced  a  bit 
Since  poor  Tom  Eobertson  invented  it — 
Tom  Eobertson,  v^hose  histrionic  chickens 
We  sneer  at  now — but  then  we  sneer  at  Dickens 
Knighthoods  for  actors  of  pronounced  abihty, 
Earls,  countesses — engaged  to  play  '  utility.' 

Stock  companies  completely  out  of  date, 

Burlesque  quite  dead  (it  never  had  that  fate 

When  Talfourd,  Planche,  Brough,  and  Byron  made  it, 

And  Kogers,  Clarke,  and  Marie  Wilton  played  it)  ; 

Then,  strangest  thing,  of  playhouses  vast  crops  ! 

Playhouses  plentiful  as  grocers'  shops  ! 

Ten  in  twelve  months  !     Well,  I  don't  want  to  prate. 

But  if  new  theatres  crop  up  at  this  rate 

Where  will  you  find  your  pieces,  if  you  please, 

And  where  your  actors  and  your  actresses  ? 

Ten  months  will  build  a  playhouse  per  contractor — 

It  takes  at  least  ten  years  to  build  an  actor. 

And,  as  our  best  authorities  insist. 

Ten  times  ten  years  to  build  a  dramatist !  " 

With  characteristic  "  pluck  "  Mr.  Kendal  con- 
tinued to  persevere  in  Birmingham  until  the 
manager  of  the  doomed  Moor  Street  playhouse 
drifted  into  the  Bankruptcy  Court,  and  then  he 
obtained  an  engagement  at  the  Theatre  Royal, 
Glasgow.  As  a  member  of  the  stock  company 
of  that  theatre  he  remained  during  four  useful, 
hardworking  years,  perfecting  himself  in  elocu- 
tion, stage  presence,  dancing,  singing,  fencing, 
and  all  the  arts  that   should  be  at  the  finger- 


WILLIAM  HUNTER   GBIMSTON  9 

ends  of  the  well-graced  actor.  No  part  came 
amiss  to  him,  or  was  declined  by  him.  From 
harlequin  in  pantomime  to  important  Shake- 
spearean characters,  he  earnestly  worked  his  way 
onwards,  and  met  with  the  reward  of  his  deter- 
mination. 

During  these  four  years  he  was  called  upon  to 
support  such  "stars"  (it  was  the  custom  of  the 
time  for  them  to  travel  without  their  own  com- 
panies, and  to  rely  on  the  support  of  the  local 
stock  actors)  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Kean, 
Samuel  Phelps,  Helen  Faucit,  G.  V.  Brooke, 
James  Anderson,  Dion  Boucicault,  Fechter, 
Sothern,  and  Charles  Mathews.  One  and  all 
noted  the  promise  of  the  enthusiastic  young 
actor,  and  many  flattering  offers  were  made 
him,  but  I  believe  it  was  the  discriminating - 
Mathews  who  persuaded  Buckstone  to  secure 
him  as  a  member  of  the  Haymarket  Company, 
and  he  made  his  first  appearance  on  those 
historic  boards  on  October  31,  1866,  as  Augustus 
Mandeville  in  "A  Dangerous  Friend."  He 
soon  made  his  way  to  the  front,  playing  Romeo 
and  Orlando  to  the  Juliet  and  Eosalind  of  Mrs. 
Scott  Siddons,  and  creating  the  part  of  the 
drunken  workman,  Bob  Levitt,  in  Tom  Taylor's 
well-known  play,  "  Mary   Warner,"    with    Miss 


10  THE  KENDALS 

Bateman  as  the  heroine.  This  was  a  most 
admirable  performance.  Miss  Bateman  subse- 
quently made  "  Mary  Warner  "  immensely 
popular  in  the  provinces,  and  it  is  an  odd  fact 
that  it  was  especially  loved  by  j^olicemen,  who 
flocked  to  see  it  because  the  prison  scenes  were 
so  ivell  clo7ie  ! 

In  those  days  Mr.  Kendal  did  not  disdain 
burlesque,  and  I  well  remember  how  excellent 
he  was  in  "  The  Frightful  Hair,"  in  which  Mr. 
F.  C.  Burnand  wittily  parodied  Lord  Lytton's 
"The  Eightful  Heir,"  then  being  played  by 
Herr  Bandmann  at  the  Lyceum.  Mr.  Kendal's 
imitation  of  the  German  actor's  appearance  and 
somewhat  extravagant  methods  was  intensely 
droll,  and  his  rendering  of  a  song  to  the  air  of 
Sir  Arthur  Sullivan's  captivating  "  From  Rock 
to  Rock  "  nightly  brought  down  the  house. 

It  was  soon  after  this  that  Miss  Madge 
Robertson  returned,  after  fulfilling  engagements 
elsewhere,  to  the  Haymarket,  and — well,  in 
the  summer  of  1869  she  became  "  Mrs.  Kendal 
Grimston." 

At  that  time  the  famous  Haymarket  comedians 
were  fulfilling  an  engagement  at  Manchester. 
Their  repertory  was  a  large  one,  and  it  was 
arranged  that  the  happy  young  couple  should  be 


KENDAL  S    ];I1;MIX(;UAM   LODUiNGii 


WILLIAM  HUNTER    GBIMSTON  11 

married  on  a  day  when  they  would  not  be 
required  to  act.  As  early  as  nine  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  August  7,  1869,  the  ceremony  took 
place  at  St.  Saviour's  Church,  Manchester,  and 
they  were  on  the  point  of  starting  for  a  brief 
honeymoon  when  the  unwelcome  news  reached 
them  that  Mr.  Compton,  who  was  immensely 
popular  in  Manchester,  and  was  to  be  the  star 
of  the  evening,  was  suddenly  called  away  to  the 
death-bed  of  a  relative,  that  "  As  You  Like  It  " 
had  been  announced,  and  that  bride  and  bride- 
groom must  appear  as  Eosalind  and  Orlando. 

This,  in  duty  bound,  and  fondly  hoping  that 
the  news  of  their  marriage  had  not  been  made 
public,  they  did ;  but  when  it  came  to  the  lines, 
"  Will  you,  Orlando,  have  to  wife  this  Eosa- 
lind ?  "  and  Orlando  answered,  "I  will,"  a 
mighty  uproar  of  applause  and  cheering  told 
them  that,  however  embarrassing  it  might  be, 
their  secret  was  out,  and  they  had  the  hearty 
good  wishes  of  their  loyal  Manchester  friends. 
Truly  a  romantic  wedding-day  ! 


CHAPTEK  II 

THE   ROBEBTSONS 

rpHE  dramatic  art  of  Mrs.  Kendal  has  of  course 
-■-  been  perfected  by  incessant  study  and  j^ears 
of  enthusiastic  work,  but  her  genius  was  un- 
doubtedly inherited.  Among  the  honoured  names 
that  contribute  to  the  history  of  the  English 
stage,  that  of  Eobertson  will  ever  hold  a  foremost 
place.  At  the  time  when  David  Garrick  made 
his  first  appearance  in  London  Mrs.  Kendal's 
ancestor,  James  Eobertson  (often  mentioned  in 
the  amusing  Memoirs  of  Tate  Wilkinson)  was  a 
highly  esteemed  actor  and  dramatic  author,  and 
from  his  day  to  the  present  the  family  traditions 
have  not  only  been  honourably  continued  but 
constantly  developed  and  right  worthily  held 
up.  James  Eobertson  lived  in  the  stormy  days 
of  the  drama.  While  he  was  worthily  working 
in  York  (which  was  his  stronghold)  and  else- 
where, Eoger  Kemble — the  son  of  an  actor  who. 


14  THE  KENDALS 

in  the  days  of  Charles  II.,  had  played  with 
Betterton  (that  grand  old  tragedian  who  at  the 
age  of  threescore  and  ten  said  that  he  was  only 
just  beginning  to  learn  his  difficult  art !) — Eoger 
Kemble  and  his  wife  were  travelling  from  town 
to  town  and  village  to  village  after  the  manner 
and  under  the  disadvantages  and  difficulties  of 
the  time — at  some  places  being  received  with 
gracious  favour  and  at  others  treated  like  lepers 
and  threatened  with  the  stocks  and  whipping  at 
the  cart's  tail,  according  as  the  great  people  were 
liberal-minded  or  puritanical.  Yet  this  sorely 
tried  couple  were  the  parents  of  John  Philip 
Kemble,  of  Charles  Kemble,  and  of  the  still  more 
famous  Mrs.  Siddons ;  and  James  Eobertson, 
who  must  have  had  his  full  share  of  the  bitter 
theatrical  experiences  of  his  contemporary,  Eoger 
Kemble,  was  the  ancestor  of  T.  W.  Eobertson 
(the  author  of  "  Caste  ")  and  of  Mrs.  Kendal, 
whose  name  will  ever  hve  with  those  of  the  great 
artists  who,  step  by  step  and  with  unflagging 
determination,  have  caused  the  once  despised 
Enghsh  drama  to  rank  side  by  side  with  its 
sister  fine  arts,  of  which  she  was  too  long,  and 
most  cruelly,  accounted  the  Cinderella. 

Unhappily    thousands    of    people    exist    who 
persist  in   judging  the  events  of  bygone  years 


THE   ROBERTSONS  15 

by  the  light  of  the  opportunities  of  to-day.  Of 
such  stuff  are  those  who  maintain  that  because 
Shakespeare  was  the  son  of  a  man  who  traded  in 
the  (to  their  understandings)  remote  town  of 
Stratford-on-Avon  he  must  have  been  absolutely 
uneducated.  They  will  not  take  the  trouble  to 
learn  that  in  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  the 
Warwickshire  Stratford  was  quite  a  notable 
place,  and  that  our  great  poet  there  secured 
the  school  chances  that,  coupled  to  his  industry 
and  unsurpassable  genius,  made  him  what  he 
was.  In  like  manner  these  people  look  down 
upon  the  old  strolHng  or  "  circuit  "  days  of  the 
players,  and  inform  us  that  their  performances 
must  have  been  "  beneath  contempt."  Well, 
their  efforts  have  borne  wonderful  fruit,  and 
those  on  the  perfected  and  highly  honoured 
stage  of  to-day  who  can  claim  Hnk  with  their 
names  must  feel  proud  of  and  grateful  to  their 
forefathers. 

They  did  not  go  on  tour  with  more  or  less 
weak  imitations  of  the  latest  three-act  French- 
adapted  farce,  or  so-called  musical  comedy,  that 
had  "  drawn  all  London  "  ;  they  did  not 
"  travel "  with  costly  but  absolutely  uncon- 
vincing scenery,  and  such  giant  "  properties  "  as 
fire-engines,  steam-rollers,  and  water-tanks;  they 


16  THE  KENDALS 

did  not  make  the  provincial  towns  they  visited 
hateful  with  their  sensational  and  glaringly 
daubed  picture  posters.  Such  things  have  come 
into  vogue  (and  have  no  doubt  proved  alluring) 
since  the  days  when  provincial  playgoers  were 
merely  anxious  and  content  to  see  simply  staged 
but  carefully  rendered  representations  of  Shake- 
speare, and  the  best  works  of  Goldsmith,  Sheri- 
dan, Colman,  Mrs.  Centlivre,  O'Keefe,  and  the 
other  old  dramatists  who  tapered  down  into 
Sheridan  Knowles.  Who  nowadays  would  go  to 
see  primitive  but  conscientious  performances  of 
such  plays  as  Joseph  Addison's  "  Cato  "  ; 
Otway's  "  Venice  Preserved  "  ;  or  Murphy's 
"Grecian  Daughter"?  But  those  who  loved 
the  stage  in  the  old  days,  and  perforce  had  to 
enjoy  what  they  could  get,  did  it,  and,  I  honestly 
believe,  were  all  the  better  for  it. 

Preposterous  and  "nailed-up"  melodrama  no 
doubt  existed  then  just  as  it  does  to-day,  and 
Dickens,  to  the  everlasting  dehght  of  all  who 
can  enjoy  an  honest  laugh,  out  of  his  matchless 
humour  created  the  immortal  (but  I  venture  to 
think  impossible)  "  circuit "  manager,  Mr. 
Vincent  Crummies.  Crummies  has  been  a  life- 
long delight  to  me,  and  I  would  not  part  with 
a  line    of    him    or    a  member  of  his  company. 


THE  ROBEBTSONS  17 

but  he  never  seems  to  me  quite  flesh  and  blood 
until  he  takes  that  newspaper  scrap  from  his 
pocket,  hands  it  to  Nicholas  Nickleby,  and 
says  :  "  Here's  another  bit.  This  is  from  the 
Notices  to  Correspondents,  this  one :  '  Philo 
Deamaticus. — Crummies,  the  country  manager 
and  actor,  cannot  be  more  than  forty-three  or 
forty-four  years  of  age.  Crummies  is  not  a 
Prussian,  having  been  born  in  Chelsea."  And 
then,  in  reply  to  Nicholas's  remark  that  it  is 
"an  odd  paragraph,"  adds,  "Very;  I  can't 
think  who  puts  these  things  in.  I  didn't." 
Yes,  at  that  moment  of  his  career  I  recognise 
the  fact  that  I  have  met  a  similarly  perplexed 
Crummies.  I  have  also  encountered  the  self- 
constituted  stage  authority  of  the  Mr.  Curdle 
type,  who  has  "  written  a  pamphlet  of  sixty-four 
pages  post  octavo  on  the  character  of  the 
Nurse's  deceased  husband  in  '  Romeo  and 
Juliet,'  with  an  inquiry  whether  he  had  really 
been  a  '  merry  man  '  in  his  lifetime,  or  whether 
it  was  merely  his  widow's  affectionate  partiality 
that  induced  her  so  to  report  him.  He  had 
likewise  proved  that  by  altering  the  received 
mode  of  punctuation,  any  one  of  Shakespeare's 
plays  could  be  made  quite  different,  and  the 
sense  completely  changed ;  it  is  needless  to  say. 


18  THE  KENDALS 

therefore,  that  he  was  a  great  critic,  and  a 
very  profound  and  most  original  thinker."  Yes, 
even  to-day  we  sometimes  come  face  to  face 
with  this  sort  of  formidable  Shakesperean 
sava7it. 

Thackeray  gives  us  a  more  tender  and,  I 
think,  a  truer  picture  of  the  old  circuit  days 
than  Dickens,  for  though  he  took  the  humorous 
side  of  the  manager  Bingley  and  the  inimitable 
Captain  Costigan,  the  "  Fotheringay  "  is  drawn 
from  the  life.  Where  is  the  stage  student  who 
has  not  seen  the  supremely  beautiful  and  sweet- 
voiced  woman  who  without  any  inborn  histrionic 
genius  has  been  so  taught  how  to  make  use  of 
her  natural  charms,  and  who  has  so  carefully 
profited  by  her  teaching  that,  with  the  masses, 
who  are  carried  away  by  her  appearance,  she 
passes  for  a  great  actress  ?  When  I  read  about 
her  and  her  methods  I  know  that  I  have  seen 
her  over  and  over  again.  "  It  was  her  hand 
and  arm  that  this  magnificent  creature  most 
excelled  in,"  says  Thackeray,  "  and  somehow 
you  could  never  see  her  but  through  them. 
They  surrounded  her.  When  she  folded  them 
over  her  bosom  in  resignation ;  when  she 
dropped  them  in  mute  agony,  or  raised  them  in 
superb  command ;  when  in  sportive  gaiety  her 


THE  FOBEBTSONS  19 

hands  fluttered  and  \Yaved  before  her,  Hke — 
what  shall  we  say? — like  the  snowy  doves 
before  the  chariot  of  Venus — it  was  with  these 
arms  and  hands  that  she  beckoned,  repelled, 
entreated,  embraced  her  admirers."  Cer- 
tainly we  have  all  seen  and  been  fascinated 
with  a  Fotheriugay ;  and  those  of  us  who 
know  our  "Pendennis,"  and  the  stage,  feel 
that  the  great  novelist  never  limned  a  more 
faithful  or  touching  portrait  than  that  of  the 
crippled  actor  Bows,  who,  with  knowledge  of 
the  art  he  could  not  by  reason  of  his  infirmity 
follow,  patiently  taught  her  how  to  make  her 
triumphs.  Again  Thackeray  had  his  kindly 
word  for  even  the  most  preposterous  of  plays. 
Of  Kotzebue's  now  almost  forgotten  but  at  one 
time  most  popular  drama  "  The  Stranger,"  in 
which  the  Fotheringay  made  such  an  irresistible 
Mrs.  Haller,  he  says :  "  Those  who  know  the 
play  are  aware  that  the  remarks  made  by  the 
various  characters  are  not  valuable  in  them- 
selves, either  for  their  sound  sense,  their  novelty 
of  observation,  or  their  poetic  fancy.  Nobody 
ever  talked  so.  If  we  meet  idiots  in  life,  as  mil 
happen,  it  is  a  great  mercy  that  they  do  not  use 
such  absurdly  fine  words.  The  Stranger's  talk 
is  sham,  like  the  book  he  reads,  and  the  hair  he 


20  THE  KENDALS 

wears,  and  the  bank  he  sits  on,  and  the  diamond 
ring  he  makes  play  with — but,  in  the  midst  of 
the  balderdash,  there  runs  that  reality  of  love, 
children,  and  forgiveness  of  wrong,  which  will 
be  listened  to  wherever  it  is  preached,  and  sets 
all  the  world  sympathising." 

This  is  true  of  all  high-purposed  work,  and  it 
was  with  the  best  dramatic  material  on  which 
they  could  lay  their  hands  that  the  self-respecting 
Eobertsons  travelled  and  made  themselves  be- 
loved on  the  old  Lincoln  circuit.  They  were  an 
earnest,  contented,  independent  race  of  men 
and  women,  diligent  in  the  study  of  their  art, 
loving  it  for  its  own  sake,  never  afraid  of  hard 
work,  and  taking  in  it  a  proper  pride.  At  one 
time  the  enterprise  must  have  been  a  prosperous 
one,  but  at  the  time  when  for  the  purposes  of 
this  chronicle  I  take  up  the  history  of  the 
Lincoln  circuit  its  palmy  days  were  over. 
Indeed  they  were  numbered,  and  no  amount  of 
conscientious  work  could  make  them  lucrative. 
Every  season  became  worse.  Lincoln,  Boston, 
G-rantham,  Peterborough,  Newark,  Oundle, 
Spalding,  Wisbech,  and  other  at  one  time 
faithful  towns,  no  longer  supported  the  time- 
honoured  and  industrious  little  company.  Eail- 
ways  had  come   into   existence   and   destroyed 


THE  ROBERTSONS  21 

the  comparative  isolation  of  the  small  from 
the  larger  towns,  and  local  interests  became 
absorbed  in  the  now  accessible  w^onders  to  be 
seen  in  the  great  world  outside  the  httle  circle 
to  which  they  had  perforce  been  accustomed. 

In  these  days  of  trial  the  circuit  was  under 
the  control  of  the  widow  of  Thomas  Kobertson, 
who  in  his  day  had  achieved  fame  as  actor, 
author,  and  painter,  but  the  work  was  really 
done  by  her  nephew,  William  Eobertson — the 
father  of  Mrs.  Kendal— an  energetic  and  artistic 
manager,  as  well  as  a  good  and  very  popular 
actor.  In  the  company  he  met  Margherita 
Elisabetta  Marinus,  a  lady  of  German  birth  who 
had  developed  into  a  charming  English  come- 
dienne. He  married  her  in  1828,  and  they  had 
a  very  large  family,  of  whom  Thomas  Wilham 
Eobertson,  the  famous  dramatist  (born  at 
Newark-upon-Trent  in  1829),  was  the  eldest; 
and  Margaret  Shafto— the  Mrs.  Kendal  of  to- 
day (born  at  Great  Grimsby  twenty  years  later) 
— was  the  youngest. 

In  those  days  Mrs.  Thomas  Eobertson,  who 
was  a  lady  of  pronounced  literary  attainments, 
kept  a  very  carefully  written  diary,  in  which, 
while  always  evincing  a  noble  courage,  she  con- 
tinually deplores  the  badness  of  the  times  and 


22  THE  KENDALS 

the  misfortunes  that  beset  her.  For  mstance, 
writing  at  Boston  in  1830  she  says  :  "  Friday 
was  a  fearful  night.  I  have  just  heard  that  two 
vessels  were  lost  in  Boston  Deep.  I  hope  it  is 
not  true.  I  could  not  sleep  for  thinking  of  our 
goods.  All  that  we  have  is  on  the  water  in  a 
little  barge.  Once  all  was  in  great  danger,  for 
they  were  driven  on  shore  ;  but  they  fortunately 
got  off  free  from  damage;"  and  again  from 
Oundle:  "The  theatre  has  been  open  four  nights, 
and  the  business  bad.  I  fear  I  shall  again  lose 
a  heavy  sum,  and  if  so  I  think  I  shall  sing, 
'  Oundle,  farewell ! '  "  Later  she  records  :  "  The 
great  excitement  of  the  week  is  over,  and  within 
a  few  pounds  of  last  year.  Bad  enough  'tis 
true ;  but  I  am  grateful  even  as  it  is.  I  have 
sent  £20  to  Boston,  £20  to  Newark,  and  £5  to 
Wisbech,  so  there  is  j£45  of  debt  met.  God 
give  me  the  means,  through  His  mercy,  to  pay 
every  one,  and  I  will  ask  no  more.'' 

And  so,  ever  loyally  aided  by  her  nephew, 
this  courageous  and  high-principled  woman, 
whose  one  ambition  was  to  give  wholesome 
entertainment  and  to  pay  her  way,  toiled  on, 
until  the  inevitable  end  came  :  the  hardworking 
little  company  was  disbanded,  and,  yielding  to 
altered   circumstances,   the    historical    Lincoln 


THE  BOBERTSONS  23 

circuit  became  a  thing  of  the  past.  For  its 
mauagement  under  the  Eobertsons  both  Dickens 
and  Thackeray  would  have  had  nothing  but 
hearty  sympathy  and  true  admiration. 

Such  famous  actors  as  Chippendale  and 
Compton  were  members  of  the  Eobertson  circuit 
companies,  and  when  years  later  Madge  Robert- 
son joined  them  under  the  Buckstone  regime  at 
the  Haymarket,  they  used  to  call  her  "  The 
Daughter  of  the  Eegiment." 

In  Macready's  valuable  diary  we  get  a  glimpse 
of  William  Robertson,  and  learn  something  of 
the  trials  of  the  Lincoln  days.  Writing  of  his 
engagement  at  Louth  in  1834  the  great  actor 
says  :  "  When  I  was  ready  to  go  on  the  stage  " 
(he  was  to  open  as  Yirginius)  "  Mr.  Robertson 
appeared  with  a  face  full  of  dismay ;  he  began 
to  apologise,  and  I  guessed  the  remainder. 
'  Bad  house  ?  '  '  Bad,  sir  !  there's  no  one  !  ' 
'  What,  nobody  at  all  ?  '  '  Not  a  soul,  sir, 
except  the  Warden's  party  in  the  boxes.' 
'  What  the  devil !  Not  one  person  in  the  pit 
or  gallery?'  'Oh  yes;  there  are  one  or  two.' 
'Are  there  five?'  'Oh  yes,  five.'  'Then 
go  on ;  we  have  no  right  to  give  ourselves  airs 
if  the  people  do  not  choose  to  come  and  see  us ; 
sfo  on  at  once  ! '     Mr.  Robertson  was  astonished 


24  THE  KENDALS 

at  what  he  thought  my  philosophy,  being  accus- 
tomed, as  he  said,  to  be  '  blown  up '  by  his 
stars  when  the  houses  were  bad." 

I  have  in  my  possession  a  manuscript  from 
the  pen  of  William  Eobertson  which  has  never 
yet  seen  the  Hght,  and  which  he  entitled  "  The 
Actor's  Social  Position."  Seeing  how  much 
this  question  has  been  discussed,  written  about, 
and  talked  about,  until  it  has  been  finally 
settled  for  all  time  that  cultured  actors  and 
actresses  can  take  their  places  side  by  side  with 
the  poets,  authors,  artists,  and  sculptors  of  their 
day,  and  when  they  are  so  much  courted  in  the 
highest  ranks  of  society  that  they  run  the  risk 
of  neglecting  their  own  work,  it  is  surely  worth 
while  to  see  what  this  diligent  and  earnest  actor- 
manager  of  the  old  circuit  days  had  to  say  on 
the  subject. 

"The  most  painful  penalty  of  an  actor's  social 
position,"  he  writes,  "results  in  its  isolation 
from  every  community  of  interest  with  others 
that  forms  and  cements  the  elements  of  mutual 
protection.  He  stands  alone  in  the  world — a 
solitary  abstraction — an  undefined,  unrecognised, 
disregarded  alien,  amidst  a  host  of  worldly- 
minded  sects,  classes,  and  combinations  that, 
knowing   the   advantage   of   union,   are   linked, 


TEE  ROBERTSONS  25 

fortified,    and    impregnable    in     the    iron-clad 
armour  of  self-love.     All  the  social  hypocrites 
in   society  make  him   their  moral  target ;    his 
character    may    be    traduced  —  without    being 
known — by  any  vulgar,  low-bred  defamer,  and 
his  professional  attainments  tarnished  without 
any  consistent  analysis,   by  all   the   young  as- 
pirants   after    literary    distinction    who,   while 
fledglings,  whet  their  beaks  and  try  their  wings 
as  dramatic  critics  before  they  become  universal 
and  worthy  exponents  of  art,  science,  and  Htera- 
ture.      They    httle    know    how    many    actors' 
positions  are  placed  in  peril  because  they  must 
point  a  period,  or  think  of  the  salaries  that  are 
reduced   because  they  must   wing   a   metaphor 
up  to  the  seventh  heaven  of  subhmity.      The 
play-going    public    must    be    all    born    critics, 
from   the    sixpenny    sweep    in   the    gallery    to 
the  sapient  cynic    in  the    side-boxes,  for   they 
know  our  art  better  by  intuition  than  we  do  by 
study — just  as  children  know  how  to  regulate 
the  works  of  a  watch  better  than  the  mechanic 
who  made  it.     They  are  all  infaUible  ;  they  are 
only    coarse    because    they   must    be   candid ; 
sceptical  because  their  thoughts  are  very  original ; 
personal  because  they  have  a  great  public  duty 
to  perform ;  and  irresponsible  because  they  are 


26  THE  KENDALS 

anonymous.  If  the  actor  escapes  mutilation 
from  his  too  candid  friends  he  has  still  to  meet 
other  most  unscrupulous  opponents,  who  repre- 
sent the  head  and  heel  of  the  rival  religious 
factions.  Forgetting  their  mutual  asperities, 
over  us  they  join  hands;  and  what  we  have 
most  to  deplore  is  that  an  antipathy  to  the 
stage  is  shared  by  many  well-intentioned  but 
unreflective  persons  who  are  most  kind,  humane, 
and  generous  upon  all  other  points,  but  who 
still  manifest  the  most  stubborn  and  inveterate 
feeling  upon  this.  A  prejudice  that  is  often 
cultivated  by  our  parents  in  early  life  seldom 
yields  to  the  chastening  spirit  of  refined 
and  hberal  opinions  afterwards  ;  unhappily  it 
grows  with  our  growth,  and  strengthens  as  we 
mature.  Acting  and  the  acts  of  actors  are 
equally  open  to  uncharitable  construction  ;  the 
vacant,  wide-mouthed  gossipers  who  float  on 
the  surface  of  society  unthinkingly  encourage 
groundless  rumours  and  petty  scandals  against 
all  associated  with  an  unprotected  art,  nor  think 
that  if  a  scrutiny  that  extends  from  your  public 
conduct  to  your  private  affairs,  with  a  view 
to  depreciate  both,  was  applied  to  any  other 
class,  it  would  produce  still  more  startling 
results. 


THE  ROBERTSONS  27 

"  Now  the  question  for  our  consideration  is, 
Are  these  evils  the  necessary  result  of  an  actor's 
social  position,  or  are  they  of  our  own  creating  ? 
Do  they  not  arise  from  a  most  censurable  and 
wanton  disregard  to  our  right  standard  and 
proper  elevation  ?  We  seem  never  to  seek  to 
raise  ourselves,  or  wish  to  exist  except  in  a  form 
that  is  degrading  and  contemptible.  We  are 
*  pigeon-livered,  and  lack  gall '  to  show  even 
the  animal  instinct  of  self-preservation,  or  the 
vital  energy  to  strive  to  escape  from  this  moral 
thraldom.  If  we  look  around  us  we  see  in  every 
department  of  life  that  its  greatest  benefits  are 
the  result  of  combination.  Then  why  cannot 
we  combine  ?  What  would  have  been  the  state 
of  Law,  Physic,  or  Divinity  if  they  had  not 
their  schools  of  examination  ?  What  degrada- 
tion would  not  yet  cling  to  our  grandest 
institutions  if  they  had  not  for  their  standard 
an  organised  system  of  induction  ?  Now  is  the 
time  when  we  should  make  an  effort  for  the  like 
advantages  !  Now  when  education  is  heralding 
more  just  and  enlightened  perceptions,  and  has 
established  fresh  conditions  as  society's  safe- 
guard, in  which  we  participate.  In  my  early 
days  a  company  of  actors  never  entered  a  town 
but  there  appeared  posted  on  every  wall  large 


28  THE  KENDALS 

placards  denouncing  our  pursuit,  and  the  pulpits 
of  almost  every  creed  poured  forth  their  ana- 
themas against  us.  All  licenses  were  granted 
under  a  protest,  and  in  the  old  days  of  the 
Whig  and  Tory  struggles  no  actor  could  draw 
the  least  patronage  who  was  not  orthodox,  and 
inoculated  with  the  small-pox  of  loyalty  to 
the  backbone.  To-day  attacks  upon  the  drama 
proceeding  from  men  of  station  are  much  modi- 
fied ;  though  its  enemies  are  just  as  inveterate, 
because  we  now  receive  a  very  genuine  amount 
of  support  and  kindly  regard  from  many  whose 
minds  are  free  from  intolerance.  I  have  ob- 
served that  ever  since  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  (himself  at  the  head  of  the  High 
Church  religious  party),  when  presenting  the 
Kean  testimonial,  reiterated  the  opinion  of 
Lord  Bacon,  '  that  a  nation's  art  was  its  most 
truthful  history,'  and  that  '  the  drama  was  the 
precursor  of  civilisation,'  our  most  unappeasable 
adversaries  have  changed  their  tactics.  Their 
new  position  was  well  explained  by  Mr.  Gran- 
ville when  he  observed  that  the  morality  of  the 
drama  was  more  discussed  in  Bristol  than  we 
(the  actors)  were  aware,  and  told  an  anecdote 
of  a  clerical  gentleman  who  said  he  saw  no 
error   in    a   play   and    should    like   to    see    one 


TEE  ROBEBTSONS  29 

represented  ;  but  it  was  impossible,  as  he  had 
a  conscientious  conviction  against  the  moral 
character  of  its  representatives.  This  gentleman 
is  the  type  of  hundreds,  and  this  opinion  is  the 
last  invented  '  Great  Armstrong  Gun  '  of  our 
enemies.  The  stage  is  commendable  ;  but  the 
actors  are  corrupt.  The  poison  is  no  longer  in 
the  pill,  but  in  the  hand  that  administers  it ! 
They  rather  like  the  honey,  but  the  bees  must 
be  smothered.  I  well  remember  some  thirty 
years  ago  how  five  clergymen  at  Devonport,  near 
Plymouth,  petitioned  the  magistrates  not  to 
grant  a  license  to  the  theatre,  one  of  the  argu- 
ments they  advanced  to  justify  a  refusal  being 
that  if  an  actor  constantly  represented  a  vil- 
lainous character  he  must  become  imbued  with 
the  sentiments  he  repeatedly  expressed,  and 
that  as  a  matter  of  consequence  his  own  nature 
must  become  identical  with  the  parts  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  embodying.  This  system  of 
reasoning  they  '  proved '  by  declaring  that  Dante 
carried  all  Pandemonium  in  his  bosom,  and  that 
Milton  was  the  devil !  Sheridan  Knowles  was 
then  the  '  star  '  at  Plymouth,  and  he  gave  these 
five  Wise  Men  of  the  West  '  a  frightful  casti- 
gation.' 

"  Now   all  true  actors  have  a  steadfast,  en- 


30  THE  KENDALS 

during,  and  deep  respect  for  learning  and  ability- 
even  if  evinced  by  those  who  condemn  them. 
We  never  point  out  that  the  Evangelical 
preacher  is  an  actor  like  ourselves,  but  in  a 
different  arena  ;  that  he  uses  acting,  emphasis, 
and  gesticulation ;  that  he  appeals  to  feeling, 
impulse,  and  imagination — and  often  establishes 
his  reputation  by  the  use  of  the  art  he  con- 
demns. We  fully  realise  the  high  prerogative 
and  supremacy  of  the  Church  as  the  first  great 
source  of  moral  instruction,  and  we  cheerfully 
surrender  our  theatres  at  every  call  to  extend 
its  influence,  being  aware  that  as  a  minor  insti- 
tution our  course  of  instruction  will  succeed  in 
the  same  place,  with  the  same  object,  to  the 
same  end,  and  I  cannot  but  think  with  more 
powerful  means ;  for  on  the  stage  example  is 
added  to  precept,  and  a  multitude  of  illustra- 
tions supply  the  place  of  one.  We  represent  to 
the  eye  and  the  heart  what  the  pulpit  can  only 
address  to  the  drum  of  the  ear.  We  portray 
what  they  can  only  describe.  We  present  the 
cause  and  its  consequences  ;  the  bane  and  its 
antidote;  the  progress  of  individual  history; 
the  temptation,  the  crime,  the  punishment,  the 
death.  No  other  system  can  excel  that  which 
gives  identity  to  what  is  ideal,  and  vitality  to 
all  that  is  lifeless." 


THE  ROBERTSONS  31 

So  much  for  ^Yhat  the  earnest  and  ill-rewarded 
William  Eobertson  said,  wrote,  and  thought  in 
the  daj^s  of  long  ago.  Happily  he  lived  to  see 
his  eldest  son  the  most  cultured  and  prosperous 
dramatist  of  his  day;  his  youngest  daughter 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  actresses  that  have 
graced  the  English  stage  ;  and  the  actor's  social 
position  greatly  changed.  Were  he  alive  to-day 
he  would  have  the  intense  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  the  art  he  loved  so  well  takes  its  proper  and 
highly  honoured  place  among  the  other  high 
professions.  He  w^ould  probably  be  the  first 
to  acknowledge  too  that,  like  all  great  changes, 
this  one  is  not  altogether  an  unmixed  blessing. 
To  the  tyro  it  seems  as  easy  as  it  is  attractive  to 
become  an  actor,  and  absolutely  deHghtful  to  be 
courted  and  welcomed  as  one  in  society.  The 
consequence  is  that  numbers  of  incompetent 
people,  devoid  of  real  aptitude  for  acting,  who 
would  certainly  break  dow^n  over  any  test  ex- 
amination, but  who  have  just  brains  enough  to 
commit  a  part  to  memory  and  in  parrot-like 
fashion  repeat  it,  rush  to  the  stage.  Unhappily 
it  often  happens  nowadays  that  those  who  have 
money,  interest,  and,  sometimes,  title  crowd 
out  those  who  have  the  real  dramatic  fire 
within  them,  but  who  are  without  influence  or 


32  THE  KENDALS 

means,  and  are,  consequently,  more  or  less 
friendless.  Like  the  poet,  the  true  actor  is 
born  not  made,  and  again  like  the  poet  he  may 
often  fail  to  come  to  the  front  for  lack  of  a 
Maecenas. 


CHAPTER  III 

MABGARET  SHAFTO  BOBEBTSON 

T17HEN  the  Lincoln  circuit  broke  up  William 
^  "  Robertson  tried  his  fortune  in  London,  and 
in  the  early  "  fifties  "  we  find  him  in  partnership 
with  Mr.  J.  W.  Wallack  managing  the  Maryle- 
bone  Theatre.  This  playhouse,  which  in  later 
years  lost  some  of  its  prestige,  was  then  in  high 
repute.  It  had  recently  passed  from  the  hands 
of  Mrs.  Warner  {nee  Huddart),  the  accomplished 
and  charming  actress  concerning  whom  Charles 
Dickens  was  wont  to  be  enthusiastic.  Mrs. 
Warner,  who  had  been  playing  with  the  famous 
company  of  Samuel  Phelps,  had  opened  the 
Marylebone,  hoping  to  gain  in  a  western  suburb 
the  same  reputation  for  legitimacy  which  had 
followed  the  experiment  of  that  enthusiastic 
actor  at  Sadler's  Wells.  She  made  a  succes- 
sion of  artistic  successes,  and  her  revival  of 
Beaumont    and    Fletcher's    "  Scornful    Lady," 


34  THE  KENDALS 

through  an  adaptation  furnished  by  Mr.  J.  D. 
Serle,  lives  in  stage  history.  "The  comedy," 
says  Dr.  Westland  Marston,  "  was  put  upon  the 
stage  with  a  sumptuous  taste  and  correctness 
which  Macready  himself  as  a  manager  could  not 
have  exceeded;"  but  after  a  time  the  double 
cares  of  acting  and  management  proved  too 
much  for  her  delicate  constitution,  and  she 
abandoned  her  enterprise. 

But  she  left  the  Marylebone  with  a  valuable 
name,  and  I  mention  her  connection  with  it  to 
show  that  when  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  William 
Kobertson  and  J.  W.  Wallack  it  was  a  theatre 
of  renown.  That  they  fully  maintained  the 
"  Warner  "  traditions  is  evinced  by  the  fact  that 
in  writing  of  their  management  an  eminent 
critic  of  those  days  said:  "It  may  be  asserted 
without  reserve  that  there  is  not  a  more 
respectably  managed  theatre  in  London  than 
the  Marylebone  Theatre  under  the  present 
management;  that  at  few  theatres  in  London 
can  pieces  comprising  a  greater  number  of 
characters  be  more  adequately  represented ;  and 
that  the  inhabitants  of  St.  John's  Wood  who 
travel  elsewhere  for  an  evening's  amusement 
may  possibly  '  go  further  and  fare  worse.'  " 

From  the  first  William  Robertson's  eldest  and 


MABGABET  SffAFTO  BOBEBTSON  35 

gifted  son,  T.  W.  Robertson,  was,  both  as  writer 
and  actor,  connected  with  the  venture,  and  little 
Miss  Margaret  —  or  "Madge,"  as  she  soon 
came  to  be  called — was  quickly  pressed  into 
the  service.  As  she  was  little  more  than  a 
baby  at  the  time,  she  can,  of  course,  remember 
nothing  of  these  early  appearances,  w^hich  w^ere 
no  doubt  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  the 
manager's  dainty  and  intelligent  Httle  daughter 
was  available  for  pieces  in  which  the  presence 
of  a  tiny  child  was  necessary.  As  to  the  first 
appearance  of  all — which  is  ever  a  matter  of 
interest  in  connection  with  an  artist  who  has 
achieved  world-wide  celebrity — some  doubt  has 
been  expressed,  but  I  believe  the  matter  has  been 
set  right  by  a  devout  collector  of  old  playbills, 
and  an  authority  on  things  theatrical,  who  says  : 
"  The  Marylebone  bill  for  Monday,  February  20, 
1854,  was  '  The  Orphan  of  the  Frozen  Sea  ' ;  and 
in  this  '  Marie,  a  child,'  was  represented  by 
'  Miss  Robertson.'  This  was  that  very  young 
lady's  first  appearance  on  the  London,  and, 
indeed,  on  any  stage.  She  was  then  of  such 
tender  years  that  it  was  not  easy,  until  this  bill 
was  adduced  in  evidence,  to  convince  the  Mrs. 
Kendal  of  a  later  day  that  she  had  ever  made 
this  debut  at  all."     Then  a  Robertson   family 


36  THE  KENDALS 

story  records  the  fact  that  when  "The  Stranger" 
was  being  performed,  and  little  Madge,  very 
proud  of  her  new  costume,  w^as  sent  on  to  the 
stage  to  soften  the  heart  of  Kotzebue's  sorely 
depressed  (and  depressing)  hero,  she  caught 
sight  of  her  nurse  in  the  pit,  and,  forgetful  of 
the  foothght  barrier  that  divided  them,  gleefully 
called  out,  "Oh!  nursey,  look  at  my  new 
shoes  !  " 

Mrs.  Kendal  herself  remembers  that  about 
this  time,  being  taken  to  the  theatre  to  see  a 
play  in  which  the  plot  hinged  upon  a  theft  of 
silver,  and  hearing  her  sister  (who  was  acting) 
unjustly  accused,  she  indignantly  called  out 
from  the  boxes,  "  My  sister  did  not  steal  the 
spoons  !  "  A  playbill  shows  that  on  March  26, 
1855,  she  appeared  as  "  Jeannie,  a  blind  child," 
in  "  The  Seven  Poor  Travellers."  At  the  age 
of  six  she  was  seen  at  the  Bristol  Theatre  as  Eva 
in  a  stage  version  of  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  and 
in  the  course  of  the  part  sang  so  sweetly  that  it 
became  a  great  question  to  her  parents  whether 
she  should  not  be  brought  up  for  concert, 
oratorio,  and  the  lyric  stage;  but  fortunately 
for  the  lovers  of  the  art  of  acting  this  idea  was 
ultimately  abandoned.  But,  whatever  her  future 
was  to  be,  the  time  had  now  come  when  Miss 


riinto  hii] 


MKS.    KEXPAL,    1886. 


MABGABET  SHAFTO  BOBEBTSON  37 

Madge's  education  must  be  taken  seriously  in 
hand,  and  for  some  time  she  disappeared  from 
the  stage,  it  being  understood  that  music  was  to 
take  an  important  place  in  her  studies.  That 
Mrs.  Kendal  has  always  retained  and  cultivated 
her  beautiful  singing  voice  was  never  better 
understood  than  by  those  who  were  fortunate 
enough  to  be  present  at  her  delightful  entertain- 
ments given  at  the  literary  and  musical  in- 
stitutes of  the  English  provincial  centres  during 
the  early  part  of  the  present  year. 

Except  that  she  proved  herself  a  remarkably 
apt,  intelligent,  and  (best  of  all !)  retentive  pupil, 
there  is  nothing  important  to  record  of  the  young 
lady's  schooldays.  When  they  were  over  she 
became  a  member  of  Mr.  Chute's  famous  com- 
panies at  the  Bristol  and  Bath  Theatres,  then  the 
most  perfect  of  theatrical  training  schools. 
Among  those  who  before  or  about  this  time 
graduated  in  them  were  George  Melville,  Arthur 
Stirling,  George  and  Wilham  Kignold,  W.  H. 
Yernon,  David  James,  Charles  Coghlan,  Arthur 
Wood,  John  Eouse,  F.  J.  Cathcart,  Miss  Marie 
Wilton  (Lady  Bancroft),  Miss  Henrietta  Hodson 
(Mrs.  Labouchere),  Miss  Kate  Terry,  Miss  Ellen 
Terry,  and  a  host  of  others  who  have  helped  to 
elevate  the  Enghsh  stage  to  its  present  proud 


38  THE  KENDALS 

position.  Among  the  "stars"  who,  according 
to  the  custom  of  those  days,  from  time  to  time 
visited  them,  and  who  they  had  to  support,  were 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Kean,  Madame  Vestris, 
Charles  Mathews,  Benjamin  Webster,  Madame 
Celeste,  Miss  Cushman,  Samuel  Phelps,  Charles 
Dillon,  and  G.  V.  Brooke.  Acting  all  sorts  of 
parts — in  burlesque,  farce,  comedy,  melodrama, 
tragedy,  and  even  pantomime  (there  is  the 
record  of  the  sweetest  of  Cinderellas  !) — in  such 
company  as  this,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Madge 
Kobertson  perfected  herself  in  the  art  in  which 
she  was  born  to  excel. 

In  1862  the  Bath  Theatre  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  but,  thanks  to  pubhc  spirit,  was  speedily  re- 
built, and  on  Wednesday,  March  3,  1863,  a 
brilHant  audience  assembled  at  its  reopening  to 
witness  a  notable  revival  of  "A  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream."  A  bill  of  the  play  recording 
this  important  event  tells  me  that  William 
Kobertson  was  the  Egeus ;  George  Rignold  the 
Theseus  ;  William  Eignold  the  Lysander : 
Charles  Coghlan  the  Demetrius  ;  iVrthur  Wood 
the  x\thenian  weaver.  Bottom ;  Miss  Louisa, 
Thorne  the  Hippolyta  ;  Miss  Desborough  the 
Hermia  ;  Miss  Henrietta  Hodson  the  Oberon  ; 
Miss  Ellen  Terry  the  Titania  ;  and  Miss  Madge 


MARGARET  SHAFTO  ROBERTSON  39 

Robertson  a  singing  fairy.  In  the  farce — 
"  Marriage  at  any  Price  " — which,  in  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  those  days,  followed  the 
main  attraction  of  the  evening,  Miss  Robertson 
played  with  William  Rignold,  Arthur  Wood, 
Miss  Henrietta  Hodson,  and  Miss  Louisa  Thorne. 
Thus  on  the  same  night,  on  an  important 
occasion,  and  at  a  very  early  age,  she  appeared, 
and  triumphed,  both  as  songstress  and  actress. 
By  this  time  keen  managerial  eyes  were  turned 
upon  this  accomplished,  versatile,  and  charming 
young  lady,  and  it  was  decided  that  she  should 
accept  a  flattering  offer  to  play  leading  parts  at 
Bradford.  That  this  was  sound  policy  soon 
became  apparent.  John  Baldwin  Buckstone,  of 
the  historic  Haymarket  Theatre,  had  at  that 
time  an  interest  in  the  Bradford  playhouse,  and 
he  at  once  saw  that  the  sweet  young  lady  who 
had  won  such  well-deserved  honours  at  Bath  and 
Bristol  was  just  the  attraction  that  he  wanted 
for  his  metropohtan  stage.  And  so  at  an  almost 
unheard-of  age  Madge  Robertson  achieved  the 
pro\ancial  actor's  ambition  and  had  "  her  chance 
in  London." 

But  it  cannot  be  said  that  her  first  chance  was 
a  good  one.  The  Haymarket  Theatre  had  been 
taken   for   a   summer    season    by    Mr.   Walter 


40  THE  KENDAL S 

Montgomery,  a  well-graced  actor,  who  was 
exceedingly  and  deservedly  popular  in  the  pro- 
vinces, but  who  somehow  failed  to  win  the 
approval  of  some  of  the  more  captious  of  the 
London  critics.  The  season  opened  on  July 
29,  1865,  Miss  Eobertson  playing  (to  the 
delight  of  every  one)  Ophelia  to  the  Hamlet  of 
the  too  sanguine  actor-manager,  and  with  Mr. 
James  Fernandez,  Mr.  Henry  Marston,  and  Miss 
Atkinson  in  the  cast. 

To  speak  of  nothing  else,  the  great  heat  of  the 
dog-days  was  against  the  hazardous  experiment, 
and  I  well  remember  how  one  of  the  writers  in 
the  comic  papers  of  the  day  excused  himself 
from  criticising  the  performance  by  saying — 

"  Eather  too  summery, 
Mister  Montgomery." 

"Hamlet"  was  soon  succeeded  by  a  revival  of 
"King  John,"  in  which  Mr.  Montgomery  was 
the  King;  Mr.  Fernandez  the  Faulconbridge ;  Miss 
Atkinson  the  Constance  ;  and  Miss  Robertson 
the  Blanch  of  Spain.  Speaking  the  other  day  of 
Mr.  Beerbohm  Tree's  proposed,  and  now  happily 
accomplished,  re^dval  of  this  strangely  neglected 
play,  one  of  our  leading  authorities  on  the  drama 
truly   said:    "The   one    distinguished    English 


MARGARET  SHAFTO  ROBERTSON  41 

actress  who  has  the  power,  the  physique,  and  the 
temperament  of  Constance,  mother  to  Arthur, 
is,  of  course,  Mrs.  Kendal.  What  other  actress 
of  our  time  could  pour  out  a  woman's  furious 
indignation  in  the  speech  that  suddenly  opens 
the  third  act  with  a  burst  ? — 

"  '  Gone  to  be  married  !     Gone  to  swear  a  peace. 

False  blood  to  false  blood  joined  !     Gone  to  be  friends! ' 

Who  else  has  the  dramatic  power  for  the  scornful 
utterance  ? — 

"  '  Thou  wear  a  lion's  hide  !     Doff  it  for  shame. 
And  hang  a  calf's  skin  on  those  recreant  limbs.' 

Who  else — and  this  is  the  most  important  point 
of  all — could  so  well  express  the  maternal  instinct, 
the  mingling  of  passion  and  tenderness  in  that 
most  exquisite  of  passages — 

"  '  Grief  fills  the  room  up  of  my  absent  child, 
Lies  in  his  bed,  walks  up  and  down  with  me, 

Oh  Lord,  my  boy,  my  Arthur,  my  fair  son, 
My  life,  my  joy,  my  food,  my  all  the  world. 
My  widow's  comfort  and  my  sorrow's  cure.' 

Hitherto  Miss  Atkinson  at  Sadler's  Wells,  and 
Mrs.  Charles  Kean  at  the  Princess's,  have  been 


42  THE  KENDALS 

Constances  dear  to  the  memory  of  the  old  play- 
goer, but  Mrs.  Kendal,  experienced  and  powerful 
as  she  is  to-day,  would  seem  to  be  an  ideal 
choice." 

It  is  something  for  the  young  Blanch  of  Spain 
of  1865  to  be  thus  spoken  of  as  the  coming 
Constance  of  to-day  ! 

In  August  Mr.  Montgomery  strengthened  his 
company  by  the  engagement  of  Mr.  Ira  Aldridge, 
a  gentleman  of  "colour"  who  was  then 
"  starring  "  England  as  the  "  African  Eoscius." 
For  him  "  Othello  "  was  staged,  Mr.  Montgomery 
playing  his  lago,  Mr.  Fernandez  his  Cassio,  the 
Hon.  Lewis  Wingfield  his  Eoderigo,  and  Miss 
Kobertson  his  Desdemona.  I  remember  seeing 
Mr.  Ira  Aldridge  as  Othello,  and  I  could  not  get 
it  out  of  my  mind  that  he  was  playing  the  part 
because  he  happened  to  be  black,  and  not  because 
he  had  any  special  aptitude  for  Shakespeare's 
grandly  drawn  character.  Mrs.  Kendal  speaks 
of  him  as  a  most  courtly  gentleman,  but  she  still 
has  unpleasant  remembrances  of  how  he  used  to 
drag  Desdemona  about  by  her  hair — a  reahstic 
piece  of  stage  business  for  which  he  was  more 
than  once  deservedly  hissed.  Years  afterwards, 
when  she  was  doing  good  work  with  Madame 
Goldschmidt  (the  famous  Jenny  Lind  of  former 


MARCtABET  SHAFTO  ROBERTSON  43 

da3's)  at  the  Koyal  College  of  Music,  she  had  a 
daughter  of  the  African  Koscius  for  a  pupil. 

Though  he  may  have  been  disappointed  in  his 
London  season,  Mr.  Montgomery  was  evidently 
well  pleased  with  his  very  youthful  leading  lady, 
for  in  the  autumn  he  engaged  her  for  the  opening 
of  the  new  Theatre  Eoyal,  Nottingham  (a  town 
closely  identified  with  the  Eobertsons),  of  which 
he  had  undertaken  the  management.  She  soon 
became  the  idol  of  the  lace  capital,  and  passing 
from  there  to  Hull  she  quickly  won  the  hearts  of 
the  stalwart  and  stanch  Yorkshiremen.  There 
a  newly  built  theatre  was  under  the  management 
of  AYilliam  Brough,  one  of  the  celebrated  and 
witty  Brothers  Brough,  and  famous  as  a  bur- 
lesque writer  ;  and  on  the  Boxing  Night  of  1865 
we  find  her  appearing  as  Anne  Carew  in  Tom 
Taylor's  pretty  comedy  "A  Sheep  in  Wolf's 
Clothing,"  a  part  which  she  played  to  perfection 
in  the  St.  James's  revival  of  the  same  piece 
many  years  later. 

In  proof  of  the  loyalty  of  her  Yorkshire  ad- 
mirers Mrs.  Kendal  is  fond  of  telling  the  following 
little  story  :  She  was  at  the  height  of  her  popu- 
larity when  the  great  Samuel  Phelps  came  to  Hull 
to  fulfil  a  starring  engagement.  She  played  the 
youthful    Julie  to   his   Richelieu,    and  all  went 


44  THE  KENDALS 

very  well  indeed,  but  when,  owing  to  some  little 
hitch  in  the  company,  she  was  at  a  few  hours' 
notice  called  upon  to  play  Lady  Macbeth  the 
famous  actor  objected.  "  She  was  far  too  young 
for  the  part,"  he  said,  and  in  all  truth  she  looked 
it.  However,  indignant  though  he  was,  there 
was  no  help  for  it,  and,  dressed  by  her  mother 
for  the  exacting  character,  the  poor  frightened 
girl  went  on  to  play  it.  She  need  not  have  been 
afraid ;  she  acted  remarkably  well,  and  her 
faithful  friends  in  the  pit  and  gallery  applauded 
her  to  the  echo.  Possibly  this  somewhat  nettled 
Phelps;  at  all  events,  when  the  calls  at  the  ends 
of  the  acts  came,  he,  as  the  "star"  of  the 
evening,  exercised  his  prerogative,  and,  putting 
tact  on  one  side,  went  on  without  her.  This  so 
angered  the  admirers  of  the  popular  Lady 
Macbeth  that  they  absolutely  hissed  the  great 
London  actor.  As  the  evening  wore  on  the  ill- 
feeling  increased  until  an  incensed  deputation 
waited  upon  William  Kobertson,  who,  in  order 
to  encourage  his  daughter  in  her  ordeal,  was  in 
the  theatre,  declaring  that  by  not  bringing  her 
on  with  him  Phelps  had  insulted  "  our  Madge," 
and  assuring  him  if  he  would  only  say  the  word 
they  would  "  dook  un  in  t'  Hoomber."  Kobertson 
of  course  did  his  utmost  to  pacify  his  child's 


MARGARET  SHAFTO  ROBEBTSON  45 

impulsive  following,  but  though  the  Humber 
project  was  abandoned  the  amazed  Phelps  had 
some  difficulty  in  safely  leaving  the  theatre. 
Mrs.  Kendal  always  gracefully  winds  up  her 
anecdote  by  telling  how  Phelps,  so  far  from 
bearing  malice  over  an  affair  that  must  have  at 
the  time  been  very  mortifying  to  him,  asked  her, 
when  she  came  back  to  London,  to  play  Lady 
Teazle  to  his  Sir  Peter  for  his  benefit  at  the 
Standard  Theatre. 

Under  the  management  of  Wilham  Brough  it 
was  hardly  likely  that  this  popular  young  lady 
would  escape  burlesque,  and  by  and  by  she  w^as 
delighting  her  Hull  devotees  by  her  acting, 
singing  and  dancing  as  the  gossamer-winged 
butterfiy-fairy  Papillonetta  in  one  of  that  clever 
writer's  brilliant  and  high-toned  extravaganzas. 
Starring  engagements  at  Liverpool  and  her 
Nottingham  stronghold  followed,  and  now  she 
began  to  distinguish  herself  in  such  important 
parts  as  Pauline  Deschappelles,  Juliet,  and  Peg 
Woffington.  Again  the  eyes  of  London  managers 
were  upon  her,  and  on  the  Easter  Monday  of 
1867  she  appeared  at  Drury  Lane  as  the  heroine 
of  Andrew  HalHday's  drama  "  The  Great  City." 
That  was  long  before  the  days  of  our  end-of-the- 
century  stage  realism,  and  the  fact  that  a  real 


46  THE  KENDALS 

hansom  cab,  a  real  horse,  and  an  absolutely 
convincing  driver  appeared  on  the  stage  caused 
first  a  thrill  of  excitement  and  then  a  complete 
sensation.  The  patrons  of  the  spectacular  melo- 
drama of  to-day  are  more  exacting.  This  was 
Mrs.  Kendal's  first  and  last  engagement  at  the 
"National  Theatre,"  but  in  later  years  she  has 
often  figured  graciously  on  its  boards  for  the 
benefits  of  her  old  stage  comrades  whose  lines 
had  not  fallen  in  such  pleasant  places  as  her 
own.  But  her  part  in  "The  G-reat  City"  was 
not  worthy  of  her,  and  it  must  have  been  with  a 
sigh  of  relief  that  in  the  autumn  of  the  same 
year  she  became  a  regular  member  of  Mr.  Buck- 
stone's  famous  company  of  comedians. 

Now  by  this  time  Sothern,  who  as  the 
inimitable  Lord  Dundreary  had  taken  the  town 
by  storm  in  1861,  was  the  idol  of  the  theatrical 
world,  and  his  lucrative  engagements  at  the 
Haymarket  were  somewhat  altering  the  policy 
of  that  home  of  pure  English  comedy.  I  do  not 
think  that  Miss  Eobertson  very  much  enjoyed 
her  appearances  with  the  vivacious  Sothern. 
His  immense  popularity  demanded  that  he 
should  be  the  first  consideration,  and  those 
who  acted  with  him  rarely  got  good  chances. 
In  "Our  American  Cousin"  she  played  Mary 


MABGARET  SHAFTO  ROBERTSON  47 

Meredith  very  sweetly,  but  by  this  time  Tom 
Taylor's  play  had  been  whittled  down  to  little 
else  but  a  series  of  scenes  for  the  all-attractive 
Dundreary.  She  was  delightful  as  Ada  Ingot 
in  her  brother's  evergreen  adaptation,  "  David 
Garrick,"  but  the  part,  albeit  sympathetic,  is 
not  a  great  one,  and  it  already  had  had  many 
exponents.  When,  in  the  provinces,  she,  with 
the  intense  earnestness  of  a  true  artiste,  played 
PauHne  Deschappelles  (she  has  often  told  me 
that  it  is  one  of  her  favourite  parts,  and  she 
certainly  plays  it  to  perfection)  to  Sothern's 
Claude  Melnotte,  she  must  have  suffered  acutely. 
Sothern,  who  was  one  of  the  greatest  character 
dehneators  of  his  day,  was  quite  vexed  with  the 
fate  that  compelled  him  to  continually  appear  as 
the  mirth-moving  Dundreary,  for  he  longed  to 
be  received  as  the  romantic  actor — the  ideal 
stage  lover.  Managers,  with  control  over  him, 
would  probably  have  held  him  back,  but  he  was 
now  his  own  master,  and  was  absolutely  deter- 
mined to  appear  as  the  impassioned  gardener's 
son  and  mock  Prince  of  Como.  I  was  present 
on  the  occasion,  and  for  two  reasons  shall  never 
forget  it.  Nothing  that  I  have  ever  seen  has 
surpassed  the  impression  made  by  Madge  Eobert- 
son's  girlish  but  truly  convincing  and  fascinating 


48  THE  KENDALS 

Pauline  ;  and  nothing  more  pathetically  quaint 
than  the  manner  in  which,  as  the  evening  wore 
on,  Sothern  handled  the  part  of  Claude  Melnotte. 
At  that  time  he  was  as  handsome  and  well-knit 
a  man  as  ever  lived.  He  looked  and  dressed  the 
part  perfectly;  he  was  evidently  in  downright 
earnest,  and  he  attacked  his  work  with  en- 
thusiasm. But  the  audience,  loving  their  pet 
Sothern  as  they  did,  expected  Dundrearyisms, 
and  presently  his  intense  sense  of  fun  caused 
him  to  yield  to  the  situation,  and  in  the  scene 
with  Colonel  Damas  he  absolutely  let  them  have 
them.  For  a  time  he  persevered  with  the 
character,  and,  indeed,  did  not  relinquish  it 
until  a  country  critic,  meaning  to  be  both 
friendly  and  complimentary,  said  that  until  he 
had  undertaken  it  no  one  had  quite  appreciated 
its  humour  !  I  can  still  hear  the  groan  with 
which  Sothern  told  me  that  this  was  a  "crusher." 
He  then  abandoned  Claude  Melnotte,  but,  as  we 
all  know,  the  Pauline  was  during  many  years 
destined  to  delight  thousands  and  thousands  of 
playgoers.  But  at  the  time  it  must  have  been  a 
great  disappointment  to  her,  for  it  was  hoped  that 
Sothern  would  score  a  success,  and  she  had  been 
engaged  to  play  PauHne  at  the  Haymarket. 
She  then  had  the  opportunity  of  "  creating  " 


MAEGABET  SHAFTO  BOBEETSON  49 

two  new  parts  with  Sothern,  but  though  she 
added  to  her  quickly  growing  reputation  in  both, 
neither  was  a  play  destined  for  long  Hfe.  They 
were  *' A  Wild  Goose,"  a  version  of  a  piece 
called  "  Eosedale,"  then  very  popular  in  America  ; 
and  "  A  Wife  Well  Won,"  which  probably  had  a 
French  origin.  In  the  last  named  she  had  the 
only  feminine  part,  and  those  who  can  recall  the 
ephemeral  production  will  remember  how  sweet 
she  was  in  it.  The  fact  that  she  appeared  as  a 
young,  innocent,  and  beautiful  girl,  alone  in  the 
company  of  a  somewhat  strange  set  of  men, 
seemed  to  add  to  the  fascination  of  her  imper- 
sonation, and  she  played  in  a  manner  so  cap- 
tivating as  to  be  absolutely  irresistible.  Sothern 
always  used  to  speak  of  it  as  the  most  charming 
piece  of  acting  he  had  seen.  Indeed,  though 
her  chances  with  him  were  rather  poor  ones,  he 
had  the  highest  admiration  for  her  genius,  and 
always  spoke  of  her  as  the  first  and  finest  actress 
of  his  day. 

Of  these  two  ventures  Mrs.  Kendal  has  told 
me  two  droll  little  anecdotes.  In  "A  Wild 
Goose "  Sothern,  who  has  been  not  inaptly 
described  as  "  a  bundle  of  nerves,"  had  in  the 
last  act  to  shoot  some  one,  and  (carrying  out  the 
tradition  of  stage  firearms)  his  pistol  one  night 


50  TEE  KENDAL S 

failed  to  "  go  off."  Half  mad  with  dismay  and 
mortification,  Sothern  rushed  at  the  lady  who 
was  to  be  his  victim  and  slaughtered  her  loitJi 
a  penknife  ! 

When  ''  A  Wife  Well  Won  "  was  being  acted 
Sothern,  who  at  that  time  was  almost  painfully 
thin,  lent,  out  of  sheer  good  nature,  a  costly, 
heavily  padded  silk  coat,  which  he  wore  in  the 
piece,  to  another  actor — Mr.  Sefton — to  play  a 
certain  scene  in.  Mr.  Sefton,  unfortunately, 
failed  to  return  it  at  the  right  moment,  and 
when  his  turn  came  poor  Sothern  had  to  go  on 
without  any  coat  at  all,  and  display  his  personally 
deplored  slimness  to  a  laughing  house. 

Again  Sothern  determined  to  appear  as  the 
handsome,  high-souled,  and  self-sacrificing  lover, 
and  accordingly  he  commissioned  Dr.  Westland 
Marston  to  write  him  a  new  stage  version  of 
M.  Octave  Feuillet's  "  Roman  d'un  Jeune 
Homme  Pauvre."  In  an  adaptation  of  this  from 
his  own  pen,  called  "  The  Romance  of  a  Poor 
Young  Man,"  he  had  already  experimented;  .and 
what  (though  he  always  longed  to  excel  in  them) 
this  whimsical  creature  really  thought  of  these 
ultra-romantic  stage-lovers  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  while  in  his  pre-Dundreary  American  days 
he  was  playing  his  own  serious  piece,  he  would 


MABGAEET  SHAFTO  BOBEBTSON  51 

from  time  to  time  appear  in  what  he  called  the 
"  farcical  tragedy"  of  "  The  Eomance  of  a  very 
Poor  Young  Oysterman." 

"  A  Hero  of  Eomance,"  as  Dr.  Westland 
Marston  called  his  work,  was  produced  at  the 
Haymarket  in  March,  1868.  Sothern  dehghted 
in  his  part  of  Victor  de  Tourville,  and  Miss 
Eobertson  sustained  the  character  of  the  some- 
time supercilious  heroine,  Blanche  Dumont, 
with  marked  ability,  but  again  it  must  be  said 
that  it  was  hardly  worthy  of  her. 

But  before  the  end  of  the  year  she  had  her 
chances.  For  Buckstone's  benefit  she  delighted 
London  as  Hypolita  in  Colley  Gibber's  ''  She 
Wou'd  and  She  Wou'd  Not  "  (her  destined  hus- 
band, Mr.  W.  H.  Kendal  playing  Don  Octavio) ; 
and  in  the  autumn  she  went  into  the  provinces 
and  did  splendid  work  in  the  old  comedies.  Of 
this  I  shall  have  more  to  say  in  my  next  chapter. 

A  month  or  so  later  Hull  again  claimed  its 
favourite,  and  there  she  shone  in  an  adaptation 
by  her  brother,  T.  W.  Eobertson,  of  De  Musset's 
"On  ne  Badine  pas  avec  L'Amour,"  entitled 
"  Passion  Flowers." 

At  this  time  that  most  astute  of  managers, 
Mr.  John  Hollingshead,  was  getting  ready  to 
open  his  handsome   new  Gaiety   Theatre,    and 


52  THE  KENDALS 

looking  about  him  for  the  greatest  attractions  of 
the  day  he  succeeded  in  engaging  Miss  Eobert- 
son  for  his  principal  actress.  And  so  on 
December  21,  1868,  she  appeared  there  in  a 
three-act  adaptation  of  L'Escamoteur  entitled 
"  On  the  Cards,"  with  a  cast  that  included  Mr. 
Alfred  Wigan,  Mr.  Maclean,  and  Miss  Nellie 
Farren.  Though  an  interesting  this  was  not 
a  particularly  strong  play,  and  early  in  1869  it 
was  succeeded  by  T.  W.  Eobertson's  five-act 
play  "  Dreams,"  in  which  she  appeared  with 
Mr.  Alfred  Wigan,  Mr.  Maclean,  Mr.  E.  Soutar, 
Mr.  John  Clayton,  Mr.  Joseph  Eldred,  Miss 
Eachel  Sanger,  and  Mrs.  Henry  Leigh.  Accord- 
ing to  one  eminent  authority,  she  had  never  been 
seen  to  such  advantage  as  in  her  brother's 
picture  of  Lady  Clara  Vere  de  Vere.  But  the 
Haymarket  Theatre  could  not  do  without  her, 
and  so  she  was  soon  beckoned  back  to  her  first 
London  home.  There  (although  she  long 
figured  in  the  bills  as  Miss  Madge  Eobertson) 
she  became  Mrs.  Kendal,  and  incontestably  took 
her  position  as  one  of  the  greatest  actresses  of 
the  century.  For  her,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  the  engagement  was  one  long  record  of 
triumphs. 


CHAPTEE   IV 

THE    HAYMABKET    COMPANY 

"nXCEPT  to  those  who  can  remember  them,  it 
is  difficult  to  describe  what  the  famous  Hay- 
market  comedians  were  to  playgoers  in  the  days 
when  the  Kendals  joined  them.  Though 
theatrical  competition  was  already  becoming 
keen,  they  still  took  the  lead  in  London,  and 
their  annual  visits  to  the  chief  provincial  centres 
were  so  many  dramatic  festivals.  Then  we  saw 
the  grand  old  Shakespearean  and  other  fine 
English  comedies,  "  As  You  Like  it,"  "  Twelfth 
Night,"  "She  Stoops  to  Conquer,"  "  The  School 
for  Scandal,"  "The  Eivals,"  "The  Heir-at- 
Law,"  "  The  Country  Girl,"  "  The  Poor  Gentle- 
man," and  the  rest  of  them,  acted  to  perfection. 
There  was  no  striving  after  elaborate  scenic 
effect ;  but  the  costumes  were  not  only  correct 
but  worn  by  people  as  if  "  to  the  manner  born"  ; 
such   artists   as   Buckstone,    the    Chippendales, 


54  THE  KENDALS 

Howe,  Compton,  Braid,  Eogers,  Clarke,  and 
their  loyal  comrades  not  only  unselfishly  played 
into  each  others'  hands,  but  by  careful  study 
and  enthusiasm  for  their  art  were  complete 
masters  of  the  "traditions"  of  their  parts. 
Indeed  it  was  a  theatrical  combination  such  as, 
perhaps,  is  only  to  be  seen  now  at  the  Theatre 
rran9ais. 

The  other  day  I  was  talking  to  a  very  old 
theatrical  manager  who  had  in  his  day  been  a 
well-known  actor.  He  was  not  of  the  class  that 
deplores  the  "palmy  days"  of  an  alleged  lost 
art,  who  says — 

"  Bless  your  heart,  sir,  I  have  seen 
Kemble  and  the  elder  Kean," 

and  then  flounders  in  a  hopeless  sea  of  remini- 
scence. Although  his  hour  upon  the  stage  had 
long  ago  come  and  gone,  and  fortune  had  not 
treated  him  too  kindly,  he  frankly  and  freely 
acknowledged  that  since  his  day  the  art  of  acting 
has  made  a  forward  march  never  anticipated  in 
his  once  ambitious  day-dreams.  He  was  full  of 
generous  praise  for  the  existing  state  of  things, 
but  he  became  very  sad  when  I  asked  him  about 
the  "traditions"  of  the  old  comedies.  "They 
will  be  lost,"   he   said  ;    "they   can   no   longer 


THE  HAYMABKET  COMPANY  55 

be   handed   down    from    generation   to   genera- 
tion." 

I  think  he  was  right.  The  country  stock 
companies,  in  which  they  were  not  only  insisted 
upon  but  carefully  studied,  have  died  out,  and 
the  young  actors  of  to-day  (one  of  them  recently 
told  me  so)  declare  them  to  be  "  old-fashioned 
rot,  you  know\"  The  existing  actors  who 
remember  them  are  becoming  few  and  far 
between,  belonging  to  no  consolidated  company, 
but  accepting  engagements  for  special  parts  that 
seem  to  suit  them  in  new  plays,  or  now  and 
then  in  a  welcome  revival  of  an  old  one ;  but  to 
my  sorrow  I  believe  that  I  shall  never  again  see 
Sheridan,  Goldsmith,  and  their  confreres  acted 
as  they  were  in  the  bygone  days  of  the  old  Hay- 
market  Company  under  the  Buckstone  regime. 
Well,  it  does  not  much  matter!  The  younger 
folk  of  to-day  do  not  much  care  about  the  "old 
comedies,"  and  those  who  fondly  linger  over 
memories  of  them  and  their  traditions  will  soon 
be  out  of  the  way. 

Mrs.  Kendal  has  acknowledged  in  her  own 
generous  and  modest  way  how  much  she  owed 
to  the  Haymarket  actors,  who  welcomed  her 
not  only  for  herself,  but  because  they  had  served 
under   her  father  on   the  Lincolnshire   circuit, 


56  THE  KENDALS 

and  at  once  dubbed  her  "  The  Daughter  of  the 
Eegiment."  "  These  fine  veterans,"  she  has 
told  us,  "were  only  too  glad  to  give  me  all  the 
assistance  in  their  power.  When  I  played  in 
any  of  the  classical  parts  I  always  had  one  of 
them  to  tell  me  that  this  was  the  way  in  which 
some  of  my  great  predecessors  in  the  part  had 
performed  it,  and  so  I  had  the  advantage  of 
knowing  all  the  traditions  of  the  stage.  I  must 
confess  that  I  believe  I  get  more  credit  than 
I  deserve  for  originality;  much  ought  to  be 
put  down  to  these  advantages  of  early  training 
and  constant  encouragement  from  these  great 
masters  of  my  art." 

Now  even  by  their  most  devoted  chroniclers 
it  must  be  owned  that  in  the  days  of  1869  the 
Haymarket  comedians  were  growing  old.  Poor 
Tom  Kobertson,  who  never  forgot  the  curt  and 
almost  cruel  way  in  which  Buckstone  had 
dechned  his  play  "  Society  "  (the  play  that  was 
destined  to  become  the  foundation-stone  of  the 
Bancrofts'  memorable  reign  at  the  old  Prince  of 
Wales's  Theatre),  wrote  to  order  for  the  Hay- 
market  his  clever  adaptation  from  the  French 
entitled  "Progress."  When  Eobertson  read  his 
play  to  Buckstone  the  veteran  comedian  looked 
aghast  and  said,  "  Good  Lord,  they  are  all  old 


THE  HAYM ARRET  COMPANY  57 

people  in  it !  "  "  Certainly,"  said  Robertson, 
with  a  recollection,  no  doubt,  of  old  snubs  and 
recently  brilliant  and  independent-making  suc- 
cesses, "I've  written  the  piece  for  youy  com- 
pany." 

Tom  Eobertson  never  forgot  or  forgave  the 
hard  and  disappointing  days  in  which,  from 
theatre  to  theatre,  the  unappreciated  manuscript 
of  "  Society  "  was  hawked  about.  In  his  pocket, 
and  the  hands  of  the  managers  and  actors  who 
carelessly  read  and  scornfully  rejected  it,  it 
became  almost  worn  out,  and  yet  it  was  the 
finger-post  that  pointed  to  the  regeneration  of 
the  English  stage.  Those  who  appreciated  it, 
however,  carefully  preserved  it,  and  the  other 
day  I  saw  its  once-despised  pages,  all  bound  in 
scarlet  morocco  and  gilt-lettered,  enshrined  in 
a  glass-case  as  one  of  the  treasures  of  the 
Shakespeare  Memorial  Theatre  at  Stratford- 
on-Avon.  And  there,  on  the  first  page,  scored 
through  and  through  by  the  angry  pen  of  the 
chagrined  author,  is  Buckstone's  summing  up 
of  it  in  the  one  word  "  Eubbish !  " 

But  though  he  proved  himself  to  be  a  bad 
judge  of  this  modern  play,  Buckstone  knew  all 
about  the  old  ones,  and  was  himself  a  dramatist 
of  no  mean  repute.     With  the  public  he  was  im- 


58  TRE  KENDALS 

mensely  popular.  Sothern  said  of  him  :  "  Buck- 
stone  must  now  be  about  seventy-five  years  of 
age  ;  but,  old  as  he  is,  he  gets  hold  of  his 
audience  more  rapidly  than  any  one  I  know. 
A  simple  '  good  morning  '  from  him  seems  to 
set  the  house  in  a  roar.  His  personal  mag- 
netism is  simply  wonderful.  He  acts  as  if  he 
had  strings  on  his  fingers  attached  to  the 
audience  in  front,  and  plays  with  them  and 
pulls  them  about  just  as  he  wants." 

It  was  just  at  the  time  that  Buckstone  and 
his  comrades  were  accused  (as  if  it  were  a 
crime!)  of  "aging"  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal 
came  to  the  front  and  warmed  the  company  into 
new  life.  Surrounded  by  experienced  players 
who  were  sensible  enough  (when  they  realised 
their  capabilities)  not  to  be  jealous  of  handsome 
and  youthful  new-comers,  the  Kendals  dehghted, 
— aye,  and  instructed — successive  audiences  as 
Orlando  and  Eosalind,  Charles  Surface  and  Lady 
Teazle,  Jack  Absolute  and  Lydia  Languish, 
Young  Marlowe  and  Kate  Hardcastle,  and  other 
characters  of  kindred  kind.  Especially  I  recall 
one  unforgetable  evening  when  Bickerstaff's  old 
and  now  neglected  comedy,  "  The  Hypocrite," 
was  given.  Mr.  Howe  appeared  as  Dr.  Cantwell, 
Mr.  Kendal  as  Colonel  Lambert,  Mr.  Compton 


THE   HAYMABKET  COMPANY  59 

as  Mawworm  (this  was  a  wonderful  performance), 
and  "  Miss  Madge  Eobertson "  as  Charlotte. 
I,  as  an  old  and  very  constant  playgoer,  can 
conscientiously  say  that  I  have  never  seen 
anything  so  perfect  on  the  stage.  The  sweet, 
vivacious,  graceful,  and  altogether  wdnsome 
Charlotte  of  that  evening  will  ever  linger  in 
the  memories  of  those  who  were  fortunate 
enough  to  witness  the  impersonation. 

Yes,  we  had  abundant  dramatic  feasts  in  those 
days.  The  comedies  were  followed  or  preceded 
by  the  famous  old  farces,  in  which  the  leading 
members  of  this  enthusiastic  company  did  not 
disdain  to  take  part.  Buckstone  and  Compton 
— Nasmyth  hammers  content  to  show  how  they 
could  crack  nuts — would  appear  as  "  Box  and 
Cox "  ;  no  one  w^ould  miss  Mr.  Chippendale's 
"  Uncle  Foozle,"  or  Mr.  Compton's  deliciously 
quaint  performance  in  "A  Fish  out  of  Water  "  ; 
Mr.  Kendal  won  hosts  of  friends  by  his  mercurial 
light-comedy  performances  in  such  characters 
as  Horatio  Craven  in  "His  First  Champagne" 
and  Jeremy  Diddler  in  "  Eaising  the  Wind," 
and,  with  his  w^ife,  was  especially  successful 
in  the  clever  comedietta  (formerly  associated 
with  the  name  and  fame  of  Charles  Mathews) 
entitled  "  How  to  Make  Home  Happy."     These 


60  THE  KENDALS 

actors  worked  hard  in  the  "  sixties,"  and  for  far 
less  remuneration  than  would  be  expected  to- 
day, but  they  earned  their  reward  in  the 
unbounded  popularity  which  was  substantially 
evinced  at  the  time,  and  will  live  in  theatrical 
history. 

Naturally  the  Kendals  made  many  and  great 
friends  among  their  admiring  comrades,  but  I 
think  their  prime  favourite  was  Henry  Compton 
— and  no  wonder,  for  he  was  not  only,  in  his 
own  way,  a  perfect  artist  but  a  warm-hearted 
and  cultured  gentleman.  After  his  death,  at 
the  request  of  his  sons,  Mrs.  Kendal  jotted  down 
some  recollections  of  him,  which  my  friend  Mr. 
Edward  Compton  permits  me  to  insert.  To 
use  her  own  words,  they  are  "characteristic  of 
the  great  actor  and  true  gentleman  so  much 
respected,  admired,  and,  indeed,  beloved  by  my 
husband  and  myself." 

"One  of  his  first  appearances  on  the  stage," 
she  continues,  "  was  made  at  Spalding  in 
Lincolnshire,  in  my  father's  company,  his 
'  reward  of  merit '  being  at  the  rate  of  one 
pound  paid  weekly.  Though  a  mere  beginner, 
I  have  always  understood  that  even  at  this 
time  he  gave  abundant  promise  of  future 
success ;    while  his  genial  manner  and  capital 


THE  HAYMABKET  COMPANY  Gl 

spirits  were  then,  as  always,  proverbial.  Among 
the  many  hardships  endured  by  provincial  actors 
of  that  period  was  the  oft-repeated  order  to 
'  march  '  some  thirty  miles  or  so,  for  the  purpose 
of  appearing  at  night  in  some  adjacent  town. 
On  one  of  these  occasions  your  father,  Mr. 
Chippendale,  and  my  father  were  companions ; 
but  one  of  the  three,  either  from  an  accident  or 
a  low  state  of  the  funds,  was  only  able  to  face 
the  journey  with  one  shoe.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, and  knowing  that  the  journey  must  be 
made,  there  was  only  one  thing  to  be  done,  and, 
to  the  credit  of  the  profession,  be  it  said,  they 
did  it.  They  stuck  by  each  other — as  they 
always  do,  as  they  always  have  done,  and,  I 
hope,  always  will  do — and  tooh  it  in  turns  to 
loalk  luith  a  siiigle  shoe,  until  their  destination 
was  reached  ! 

"  Many  and  strange  are  the  tales  of  '  stage 
waits,'  but  surely  the  one  so  long  remembered 
as  a  standing  joke  against  your  father  is  worthy 
of  a  place  among  the  most  peculiar.  I  refer  to 
that  occasion  when  your  father,  Mr.  Buckstone, 
and  my  husband  were  dining  out  at  Manchester. 
The  piece  that  evening  being  '  The  Hypocrite,' 
and  your  father's  presence  being  unnecessary 
until   the   third   act,  he   walked   calmly  to  his 


62  THE  KENDALS 

rooms,  so  that  he  might  enjoy  his  quiet  cup  of 
coffee  as  usual  before  proceeding  to  business. 
In  the  meantime  the  comedy  mentioned  sped 
merrily  along,  and  the  announcement  in  the 
third  act,  '  Mr  Mawworm  is  below ! '  found  the 
audience  in  the  very  best  of  humours,  as  they 
waited  in  eager  expectation  for  the  appearance 
of  their  favourite.  The  cue,  however,  was  not 
taken  up,  and,  after  the  usual  hurrying  of  foot- 
steps and  whispering  of  voices,  the  mortify- 
ing news  that  '  Mr.  Compton  was  not  in 
the  theatre  '  was  made  apparent  to  those  as- 
sembled by  the  ringing  down  of  the  curtain.  A 
messenger  was  at  once  despatched  to  the 
absentee's  apartments,  where  he  was  found, 
having  finished  his  coffee,  comfortably  taking 
the  regulation  '  forty  winks '  in  his  slippers ! 
The  first  person  he  encountered  on  his  arrival 
at  the  theatre  was  my  husband,  to  whom  he 
remarked  in  his  quaint,  dry  manner,  '  Well, 
young  Kendal,  you've  done  a  nice  thing!  '  He 
then  hurried  on  his  costume,  and,  the  curtain 
being  taken  up  again,  he  was  greeted  on  his 
appearance  with  a  reception  that  can  only  be 
described  as  tremendous. 

"  Your  father's  regular  habits  were  pretty  well 
known  in  the  profession,  so  I  was  not  surprised 


THE   HAYMABKET  COMPANY  63 

when  Mr.  Kendal  and  myself  were  '  starring  '  at 
the  Prince  of  Wales's  Theatre,  Liverpool,  to  hear 
of  his  methodical  way  of  living  from  my  landlady, 
who  was  making  him  comfortable  in  her  other 
set  of  rooms,  he  being  at  that  time  with  the 
'  Yezin-Chippendale  Company'  at  the  Amphi- 
theatre. I  determined,  however,  that  w^e  should 
see  as  much  of  each  other  as  possible,  since  Fate 
had  thrown  us  so  conveniently  together,  and 
every  night  on  coming  home  I  would  go  to  his 
sitting-room  and  insist  on  his  digesting  his  frugal 
supper  over  a  pipe  with  Mr.  Kendal.  At  the 
end  of  the  fortnight,  w^hen  parting  from  us  he 
said  to  me,  '  G-oodbye,  my  dear  girl.  I  like  you 
very  much;  but  you  have  entirely  spoilt  my 
constitution,  to  say  nothing  of  my  complexion  ! ' 
As  your  father  was  turned  seventy  at  the  time, 
this  remark  was  particularly  humorous." 

It  was  in  the  October  of  1869  that  Mrs.  Kendal 
had  her  first  great  chance  of  "  creating  "  an  im- 
portant part  at  the  Haymarket,  and  right  worthily 
she  availed  herself  of  it.  As  usual,  there  is  the 
little  story  of  managerial  prejudice  and  short- 
sightedness concerning  the  new  play  in  which, 
after  tantalising  delays  to  dramatists  and  actress, 
she  was  at  last  permitted  to  appear.  Like 
Kobertson's   "  Society,"    ''  New^   Men    and   Old 


64  THE  KENDALS 

Acres,"  by  Tom  Taylor  and  A.  W.  Dubourg, 
had  gone  the  dreary  round  of  the  London  theatres 
only  to  be  rejected  until  it  came  to  the  Hay- 
market.  Happily  by  this  time  Buckstone  seemed 
to  doubt  his  own  judgment.  At  all  events,  he 
gave  it  to  "Young  Kendal"  to  read,  and  the 
keen  eye  of  the  "  Eecruit  of  the  Eegiment "  at 
once  saw  its  great  possibilities,  and  he  urged  his 
chief  to  produce  it.  For  a  long  time  it  was 
"  pooh-pooh'd,"  but  at  last  it  was  tentatively 
staged  for  Mrs.  Kendal's  benefit  in  Manchester. 
Oddly  enough,  there  was  no  part  in  it  calculated 
to  suit  Mr.  Kendal,  but  he  was  quite  willing  to 
stand  aside  and  witness  the  triumph  that  he  felt 
sure  was  in  store  for  his  wife.  The  triumph 
came,  and  in  the  October  of  1869  the  often- 
disappointed  authors  met  with  the  reward  of 
their  patience  in  the  brilliant  success  of  their 
comedy  at  the  Hay  market. 

The  delightful  Lilian  Vavasour  of  Mrs.  Kendal 
at  once  captivated  the  town.  Of  the  piece  and 
her  performance  in  it  one  of  the  keenest  and 
most  earnest  critics  of  those  days  said  :  "  The 
comedy,  though  wanting  anything  like  that  view 
of  serious  interest  which  can  alone  take  hold  of 
the  hearts  of  an  audience,  is  lively  and  amusing 
throughout,  while  the  dialogue,  which  is  gene- 


THE   lUYMABKET  COMPANY  65 

rally  clever  and  pointed,  sometimes  attains  even 
higher  merits.  But  the  acting  of  Miss  Kobert- 
son,  who  sustained  the  part  of  Lihan,  might 
alone  have  sufficed  to  secure  success  for  a  work 
of  far  inferior  merits.  A  young  lady  who  talks 
slang,  corrupted  by  the  society  of  a  sporting 
cousin,  would  be  a  dangerous  part  in  ordinary 
hands  ;  but  Miss  Eobertson's  performance  in  no 
part  degenerated  into  anything  like  vulgarity. 
There  was  a  neatness  and  finish  not  only  in  her 
dehvery  of  the  words,  but  in  all  her  movements, 
including  that  indefinable  fiUing  up  of  time 
known  to  the  actors  as  '  business '  which  belongs 
to  the  very  best  school  of  comedy  acting.  Nor 
is  she  much  less  at  home  in  the  more  pathetic 
portions  of  her  part,  particularly  in  the  scene  in 
which,  in  the  view  of  a  \Yesi\th.y  parvenu's  suc- 
cession to  her  father's  property,  she  bespeaks 
his  favour  and  kindness  for  old  objects  of  her 
bounty,  not  forgetting  her  dog  and  the  peacock 
with  one  eye ;  and,  again,  in  a  later  portion  in 
which  she  freely  offers  herself,  when  rich,  to  the 
man  who  loves  her,  and  who  had  not  disdained 
her  when  presumptively  poor." 

"New  Men  and  Old  Acres"  ran  for  many 
nights,  but  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  were  soon 
playing  together  again.     In  Mr.  They  re  Smith's 


66  THE  KENDALS 

brilliant  comedietta,  ''  Uncle's  Will,"  they  found 
one  of  the  brightest  little  gems  in  their  repertory. 
Never  was  the  "give  and  take"  of  genuinely 
witty  repartee  better  handled  than  by  these  two 
in  a  playlet  they  discovered  for  themselves,  and 
in  which  they  have  delighted  thousands  and 
thousands. 

In  the  November  of  1870  there  came  a  delight- 
ful surprise  for  the  true  lovers  of  dramatic  art, 
for  it  was  then  that  Mr.  W.  S.  Gilbert  com- 
menced his  fascinating  series  of  "fairy  comedies " 
— fanciful  pieces  written  in  flowing  blank  verse 
with  wit  and  satire  sparkling  in  each  line — 
extravaganzas  of  the  type  that  in  former  years 
had  been  made  popular  by  Planch^,  where 
scenery  and  music,  though  tastefully  introduced, 
were  not  predominant,  and  in  which  punning 
and  slang  had  no  place — in  short,  high  literary 
efforts  calculated  to  refine  and  instruct,  as  well 
as  amuse,  both  reader  and  spectator.  The  first 
of  these,  "  The  Palace  of  Truth,"  was  avowedly 
based  upon  a  story  by  Madame  de  Genhs  which 
tells  of  an  enchanted  castle  the  occupants  of 
which  are  constrained  unconsciously  to  express 
aloud  their  thoughts,  however  unworthy  these 
may  be  or  inconvenient  the  occasion  for  giving 
them  utterance.     The  complications  that  ensue 


THE  HAYMABKET  COMPANY  67 

are  not  only  instinct  with  satire  but  intensely 
diverting.  It  at  once  became  evident  that  Mr. 
Gilbert  had  discovered  a  new  vein  of  precious 
ore,  and  it  was  manifest  that  in  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kendal  he  had  met  the  experts  able  to  work  it 
to  perfection. 

Looking  strikingly  handsome  in  the  picturesque 
mediaeval  costumes  allotted  to  the  Princess 
Zeolide  and  Prince  Philamir,  and  speaking  their 
lines  not  only  with  a  true  sense  of  their  humour, 
but  an  appreciation  of  the  serious  meaning  they 
were  often  intended  to  convey,  both  actress  and 
actor  made  a  great  and  lasting  impression.  In- 
deed, there  w^as  a  freshness  and  charm  about 
the  whole  production  which  to  many  of  us  was 
irresistible,  but  it  takes  a  long  time  to  induce 
the  rank  and  file  of  English  folk  to  acknowledge 
the  merit  of  a  "new  departure,"  and  I  do  not 
think  that  "  The  Palace  of  Truth  "  met  with  the 
genuine  enthusiasm  that  it  deserved.  But  then 
it  must  be  remembered  those  were  not  the  days 
of  phenomenally  long  runs. 

It  paved  the  way,  however,  for  what  many 
critics  hold  to  be  Mr.  Gilbert's  masterpiece,  and 
indeed  it  is  a  masterpiece  of  which  any  writer 
might  be  justly  proud.  When,  in  December, 
1871,  "Pygmalion  and  Galatea"  was  produced, 


68  THE  KENDALS 

the  capabilities  of  Mrs.  Kendal  were  realised. 
For  many  a  long  day  such  perfect  art  in  a  most 
subtle  character  had  not  been  seen,  and  she  held 
her  now  smiling,  now  tearful  audience  in  thrall. 
The  play  has  lived,  and  will  live,  and  Mr. 
Gilbert's  beautiful  and  witty  stage  version  of 
the  old  classical  fable  of  the  impetuous  Athenian 
sculptor  who  is  punished  by  the  gods  for  his 
impious  wish  that  the  marble  Galatea  he  has 
chiselled  into  a  thing  of  beauty  shall  be  endowed 
with  life,  is  so  well  known  that  it  needs  no 
description  here. 

I  have  seen  many  Galateas.  They  have  all 
been  good,  and  some  of  them  most  admirable 
performances ;  but  not  one  of  them,  I  venture  to 
think,  came  within  measurable  distance  of  Mrs. 
Kendal's  impersonation.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, too,  that  she  "created"  the  part,  and 
enriched  it  with  all  its  pretty  feminine  touches. 
Those  who  came  after  her  had  the  immense 
advantage  of  these  traditions,  duly  noted  in  the 
prompt  book.  Who,  having  seen  this  peerless 
Galatea,  will  forget  how  beautiful  she  looked, 
and  how  gracefully  she  wore  her  classical 
drapery  ?  But  even  these  things  seemed  for- 
gotten when  a  perfectly  attuned  voice  (wedded 
to   just   the  right  facial  expression)  enunciated 


THE  HAYMARKET  COMPANY  69 

Mr.  Gilbert's  charming  lines.  The  amazement 
of  the  suddenl}'  animated  statue  was  wonderfully 
conveyed,  and  the  naivete  of  her  questions  to 
Pygmalion  was  irresistible.  What  an  expression 
of  pleased  innocence  came  into  her  eyes  as  she 
gazed  at  her  face  in  the  mirror  and  said — 

"  How  beautiful!  I'm  veiy  glad  to  know- 
That  both  our  tastes  agree  so  perfectly ; 
"Why,  my  Pygmalion,  I  did  not  think 
That  aught  could  be  more  beautiful  than  thou, 
Till  I  beheld  myself.  Believe  me,  love, 
I  could  look  in  this  mirror  all  day  long. 
So  I'm  a  woman  !  " 

What  delightful  and  unmistakable  simpHcity 
when,  in  reply  to  the  remorseful  Pygmalion's 

"  It's  a  grievous  sin 
To  sit  as  lovingly  as  we  sit  now," 

she  answers — 

"  Is  sin  so  pleasant?     If  to  sit  and  talk. 
As  we  are  sitting,  be  indeed  a  sin, 
Why,  I  could  sin  all  day !  " 

I  have,  alas !  seen  a  Galatea  who  in  order  to 
win  a  laugh  looked  archly  at  her  audience  as  she 
dehvered  these  lines,  as  one  who  would  have  them 
understand  that  "  she  knew  all  about  it !  " 

Mrs.  Kendal  aroused  abundant  mirth,  but  it 
was  the  merriment  created  by  the  amused  belief 


70  THE  KENDALS 

of  her  hearers  in  the  animated  statue's  absolute 
purity. 

How  fine,  too,  was  her  horror  (there  was  the 
ring  of  true  tragedy  in  this)  when  she  shrank 
from  the  red-handed  Leucippe  and  gazed  piteously 
on  the  soft-eyed,  still  warm  fawn  he  had  just 
killed,  and  how  tender  her  utterance  of  the 
words,  as  she  took  the  poor  little  dead  thing 
in  her  arms —    • 

"  Why,  you  have  murdered  her  ! 
Poor  little  thing !  I  know  not  what  thou  art ; 
Thy  form  is  strange  to  me  ;  but  thou  hadst  life, 
And  he  has  robbed  thee  of  it!  " 

But  I  could  go  on  multiplying  instances  of  the 
extreme  delicacy  of  this  subtle  and  affecting  per- 
formance, and  must  content  myself  with  one 
more — the  touching  note  of  heart-wrung  bitter- 
ness when,  at  the  end  of  the  play,  having  heard 
Pygmalion  say  of  her — 

"  She  is  not  fit  to  live  upon  this  world  " 

she  put  into  the  reply — 

"  Upon  this  worthy  world,  thou  sayest  well, 
The  woman  shall  be  seen  of  thee  no  more." 

Mr.  Kendal,  of  course,  had  no  such  chance  of 
distinguishing  himself  as  his  wife,  but  he  looked 


THE   HAYMABKET  COMPANY  71 

a  perfect  picture  as  the  Athenian  sculptor  of 
the  days  of  long,  long  ago;  and  he  played  a 
rather  thankless  part — thankless  because  unsym- 
pathetic—  with  great  care  and  finish.  It  is 
certain,  moreover,  that  Mrs.  Kendal's  triumph 
would  not  have  been  so  complete  if  she  had  not 
been  acting  with  one  who  so  thoroughly  knew 
her  methods,  and  upon  whom  she  could  so  com- 
pletely rely. 

"Pygmalion  and  Galatea"  subsequently  be- 
came as  popular  in  the  country  as  it  was  in 
London,  and  Mrs.  Kendal  tells  an  amusing  story 
of  what  happened  during  one  of  its  representa- 
tions in  Dubhn.  An  old  Irish  lady,  evidently 
deeply  sympathising  with  the  somewhat  ill- 
treated  Galatea,  and  with  an  eye  of  suspicion 
on  PygmaUon  and  his  jealous  wife,  Cynisca,  at 
the  moment  when  the  animated  statue  was  about 
to  throw  herself  into  the  sculptor's  arms,  shouted 
from  her  "coign  of  vantage"  in  the  gallery: 
"  Don't,  darhnt !  His  wife  has  just  gone  out !  " 
Everybody,  including  Mrs.  Kendal,  burst  into 
laughter,  and  the  scene  was  irretrievably  wrecked. 
By  the  way,  most  actors  have  good  tales  to  tell 
of  gallery  interruptions  and  remarks,  especially 
in  provincial  theatres.  If  the  Kendals  have 
few  it  is  because  they  so  absolutely  hold  their 


72  THE  KENDALS 

audiences  that  such  things  rarely  occur.  I  have 
seen  them  acting  to  densely,  and  even  uncom- 
fortably crowded  houses  in  rough  manufacturing 
towns  where  (save  for  laughter  and  applause)  you 
might,  from  rise  to  fall  of  curtain,  have  heard  a 
pin  drop. 

Probably  by  this  time,  and  in  the  direction  of 
fairy  comedy,  Mr.  Gilbert,  to  use  the  famiHar 
phrase  of  to-day,  was  finding  how  difficult  it  is 
to  "beat  a  record."  Certainly  "The  Wicked 
World,"  which  was  produced  in  1873,  though 
containing  many  good  things,  was,  after  "Pygma- 
lion and  Galatea,"  a  disappointment.  In  the 
cast,  too  (at  least  in  one  case),  mistakes  were 
made.  The  idea  of  making  poor  old  Buckstone 
appear  as  a  fairy  may  have  appeared  droll  in  con- 
ception, but  it  did  not  turn  out  well.  He  had  a 
prologue  to  speak,  and  on  the  first  night  he  was 
received  with  shouts  of  merriment.  Thus  en- 
couraged, he  started  well,  and  was  speaking  the 
lines  in  his  own  curious  but  popular  fashion  when 
he  broke  down.  The  infirmities  of  age  were 
besetting  him,  and  his  memory  had  failed  him. 
He  was  so  deaf  that  the  prompter  could  do  little 
or  nothing  to  help  him,  and,  after  a  painful  little 
struggle,  he  had  to  leave  the  remainder  of  the 
introductory  verse  unspoken.     In  these  waning 


THE   HAYMABKET  COMPANY  73 

years  of  his  life  the  veteran  comedian  kept  his 
conipan}^  together  because  he  was  so  famihar 
witii  their  gestures  and  the  movements  of  their 
mouths  that  from  them  he  could  take  his  cues. 
As  the  Queen  Selene  of  the  Wicked  World, 
Mrs.  Kendal  spoke  the  long  speeches  allotted  to 
her  with  her  usual  charm  and  appreciation  of 
their  true  meaning ;  and  Mr.  Kendal  in  his 
picturesque  suit  of  early  armour  made  an  impres- 
sive figure  as  the  Gothic  knight,  Sir  Ethais. 
Little  more  than  this  can  be  said. 

Two  clever  comediettas  which  the  Kendals 
made  popular  in  the  same  year  should  not 
pass  without  mention.  They  were  "His  Own 
Enemy,"  by  Mr.  A.  Meadow;  and  a  charming- 
duologue  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Dubourg,  entitled 
"  Twenty  Minutes'  Conversation  under  an  Um- 
brella," in  which,  as  "Willie"  and  "Madge," 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  exchanged  their  clever  if 
rather  virulent  repartee  in  the  delightful  manner 
of  "Uncle's  Will." 

In  1874  Mr.  Gilbert  abandoned  the  dainty 
blank  verse  of  his  fairy  plays  for  trenchant  prose, 
and  in  the  early  days  of  the  year  the  Haymarket 
Company  appeared  in  his  four-act  play, "  Charity," 
a  work  that  hardly  met  with  its  deserts,  and 
which  should  surely  be  revived  in  these    days 


74  THE  KENDALS 

when,  I  think,  it  would  be  better  understood. 
As  was  felt  at  the  time,  a  vein  of  clever  but  rather 
cruel  cynicism  pervades  the  dialogue,  and  extends 
to  the  characters,  who,  however,  were  found  to 
be,  one  and  all,  singularly  fresh  and  unstagey. 
Mr.  Kendal  had  the  courage  to  appear  in  a 
terribly  thankless  part,  one  of  those  characters 
that  an  actor  knows  beforehand  to  be  "dead 
against  the  audience  "  ;  but  he  had  his  reward  in 
seeing  his  wife  secure,  at  the  end  of  the  trying 
and  difficult  third  act,  a  "  triumph  more  spon- 
taneous and  overwhelming  "  (I  quote  from  one 
of  our  most  eminent  critics)  "  than  has  often 
been  accorded  an  artist.  The  audience  literally 
rose  to  greet  her."  Indeed,  as  the  unfortunate 
Mrs.  Van  Brugh  she  exhibited  deeper  quaHties 
than  she  had  been  given  credit  for,  and  she  made 
the  success  of  a  play  that  (in  1874)  was  too  un- 
sympathetic in  tone  to  secure  a  very  long 
run.  Those  were  the  ante  "stage  problem" 
days  ! 

It  was  in  1874  that  Mr.  G.  W.  Godfrey,  whose 
name  was  ultimately  associated  with  "  The 
Queen's  Shilling,"  "The  Parvenu,"  and  other 
great  stage  successes,  was  fortunate  enough  to 
place  his  first  piece  in  the  discriminating  hands 
of  Mr.  Kendal.     Acting  upon  his  advice,  Buck- 


THE   nJYMAFKET   COMPANY  75 

stone  produced  it.  "  Queen  Mab,"  as  it  was 
called,  was  a  prett}^  and  clever  rather  than  a 
strong  play.  It  pleased  all  who  saw  it,  but  it 
contained  no  great  acting  chances  for  Buckstone, 
the  Kendals,  or  the  other  members  (Comptonhad 
already  left  it)  of  the  Haymarket  Company,  and 
it  did  not  live  long. 

Indeed  at  about  this  time  a  spell  of  ill  luck 
seemed  to  have  settled  over  the  historic  "  little 
theatre  in  the  Haymarket,"  as,  following  their 
fathers,  the  older  plaj^goers  of  those  days  still 
fondly  called  it,  and  "Mont  Blanc,"  by  Henry 
and  Athol  Mayhew,  which  was  the  next  venture, 
was  a  complete  failure.  This  was  an  invertebrate 
version  of  the  well-known  and  diverting  French 
play,  "Le  Voyage  de  Monsieur  Perrichon."  The 
genial  and  versatile  Max  O'Eell  (M.  Paul  Blouet) 
has  quite  recently  showai  us  what  can  be  done 
with  a  really  well-handled  and  well-acted  adapta- 
tion of  the  clever  original  work. 

It  was  after  this  fiasco  that  Buckstone  sought 
counsel  of  his  comrades,  and  opened  the  pro- 
ceedings by  stating  in  a  sad  and  solemn  voice 
that  he  knew  the  cause  of  their  recent  misfor- 
tunes, and  that  they  could  easily  be  set  right 
if  only  they  could  get  "a  play  that  would 
draw." 


76  THE  KENDALS 

That  play  never  came.  How  rarely  it  does 
come  !  For  his  benefit  in  the  August  of  1874 
the  brave  old  actor-manager  produced  a  three-act 
comedy  by  Mr.  Kobert  Buchanan  dealing  with 
the  tempting  Cavalier  and  Eoundhead  Period, 
entitled  "A  Madcap  Prince."  In  it  he  played 
with  sufficient  unction,  the  part  of  a  Puritan 
soldier,  known  as  Light-o'-the-Land  Sawdon,  but 
it  was  becoming  evident  that  his  stage  days 
were  numbered.  In  this  production  Mr.  Kendal 
once  more  had  the  poorest  of  chances ;  but  of 
Mrs.  Kendal's  performance  of  Elinor  Yane,  who 
in  order  to  ensure  the  safety  of  King  Charles  II. 
is  induced  to  masquerade  as  his  Majesty's 
"double"  and  in  his  Majesty's  garb,  it  is 
recorded  that  there  were  few  living  actresses 
who  could  give  so  clever  a  mixture  of  sauciness 
and  esjneglerie,  and  could  blend  with  it  so  much 
that  was  genuine  and  womanly.  Her  manner  of 
wearing  her  disguise  was  excellent,  and  her 
identity  was  scarcely  recognisable  behind  it. 

And  then  came  one  of  those  sad  periods  (alas ! 
they  are  always  coming)  when  we  have  to  recog- 
nise that 

"  Good  Times  and  Bad  Times  and  All  times  Get  Over." 

The  days  of  the  Buckstone  rigime  at  the  Hay- 


THE  HAYM ARRET  COMPANY  77 

market  were  at  an  end,  and  there  came  a  night 
when  the  green  baize  curtain  fell  upon  it  for  the 
last  time,  leaving  only  bare  walls  behind  it  to 
echo  back  sweet  yet  sad  memories  to  those  who 
cared  to  call  for  them. 


CHAPTEK   V 

"ON   THE    WING" 

WHEN  the  Haymarket  Company  broke  up 
the  Kendals  wisely  determined  to  tempt 
fortmie  on  their  own  account,  and  amongst 
those  who  strongly  advised  them  to  adopt  this 
course  was  the  late  Mr.  James  Eodgers,  then 
lessee  and  manager  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 
Theatre,  Birmingham.  James  Eodgers  was  a 
man  with  a  very  interesting  personality.  He 
was  a  sound  actor  of  the  old  school,  and  if  he 
had  not  actually  acted  with  Edmund  Kean,  he 
knew  all  about  him,  and  was  absolutely  steeped 
in  the  traditions  of  his  day.  He  had  been  one 
of  Charles  Kean's  leading  lieutenants  during 
his  memorable  management  of  the  Princess's 
Theatre  ;  and  he  had  a  remarkably  keen  eye  for 
the  thing  that  would  attract  the  public.  He 
had  been  intimate  with  the  elder  Robertsons — 
he  was  watching  the  career  of  "  Madge  Robert- 
son" with   true   interest  and  appreciation,  and 


80  THE  KENDALS 

long  before  the  days  of  "  Galatea  "  he  had  seen 
m  her  the  coming  great  actress  of  her  day. 
Indeed  he  was  closely  connected  with  that  brief 
occupation  of  the  Haymarket  by  Mr.  Walter 
Montgomery  to  which  I  have  alluded,  and  it 
was  to  him  that  next  "  stepping-stone  "  engage- 
ment w^as  due. 

Having  full  confidence  in  their  drawing 
powers,  he  right  gladly — directly  he  knew  they 
were  free — begged  the  Kendals  to  accept  a 
"  starring  "  engagement  at  his  theatre,  and  they 
determined  to  make  the  venture.  In  those  days 
the  provincial  stock  companies  were  still  in 
existence,  and  the  "stars"  had  to  be  content 
with  such  support  as  they  could  get  from  the 
local  actors  and  actresses.  To  tell  the  truth, 
the  "stock"  at  the  Birmingham  Prince  of 
Wales  Theatre  in  the  days  of  1874  was  not  of 
the  strongest,  and  in  order  to  make  it  palat- 
able a  great  deal  of  flavouring  and  good  cookery 
were  required.  All  the  more  credit,  then,  is  due 
to  the  Kendals  for  the  complete  success  of  their 
engagement,  and  that  they  at  once  "drew"  a 
town  too  apt  to  look  askance  at  new  theatrical 
attempts.  I  must  give  here  a  copy  of  the  hand- 
bill that  was  issued  announcing  the  new 
departure. 


ON   THE    WING"  81 


PRINCE  OF  WALES  THEATRE 

BROAD   STREET,  BIRMINGHAM. 


Ol' 

IVIISS   IVIflDOE  ROBERTSOfi 

AND 

(Of  the  Theatre  Royal,  Haymarket), 

FOR    SIX    NIGHTS    ONLY !      Commencing    Monday 
Evening,  November  16,  1874, 

WHO    WILL,    APPEAR    IN    THE    FOLLOWING    PIECES: 

ROMEO  AND  JULIET.  LADY  OF  LYONS. 

THE    HUNCHBACK. 

AS   YOU   LIKE    IT.  EAST    LYNNE. 

ALSO    THE    ENORMOUSLY    SUCCESSFUL    COMEDIETTA    OP 

UNCLE'S  WILL 

Played  by  Miss    KOBERTSON   and  Mb.  KENDAL  over  300  Niyhta  at  the 
Theatre  Royal,  Haymarket. 

FRIDAY    EVENING,    NOVEMBER    20th, 

FOR    THE    BENEFIT    OF 

MISS  MADGE  ROBERTSON  &  MR.  W.  H.  KENDAL, 

On  which  oocasion  will  Iju  producecl,  lor  thu  tii'st  time,  an  eutirely 
new  and  original  Comeilietta,  by 

\vritten  expressly  for  Miss  Robertson  and  Mr.  Kendal,  entitled 

Box  Office  now  Open. 

7 


82  THE  KENDALS 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  energetic  and  enthusi- 
astic young  couple  did  not  mean  to  shirk  work. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  what  it  must  have  been 
to  rehearse  and  act  those  five  "  heavy  "  plays, 
partly  unfamiliar  to  them,  with  a  company 
wholly  strange  to  them,  and  with  a  smoothness 
and  success  that  could  only  command  compH- 
mentary  criticism.  How  well  I  remember  calling 
upon  my  friends  one  morning  after  a  perform- 
ance of  "Komeo  and  Juliet."  In  their  own 
stock  days  "  stage  falls  "  came  as  a  matter  of 
course,  but  in  the  Haymarket  comedies  they 
had  small  part,  and  they  had  become  unused  to 
them.  But  they  had  impersonated  the  luckless 
scions  of  the  ridiculously  aggravating  Montagues 
and  Capulets  conscientiously,  and  hence  I  found 
them  complaining  of  sore  bruises,  and  surrounded 
by  an  aroma  suggestive  of  vinegar  and  brown 
paper !  But  it  was  a  colossal  week  !  On  the 
Saturday  evening  a  "  Grand  Monstre  Pro- 
gramme "  was  announced,  and  the  Kendals 
actually  supplemented  Sir  Thomas  Clifford  and 
Julia  in  "The  Beautiful  Play"  (I  quote  from 
the  playbill)  of  the  "  Hunchback,"  by  Sheridan 
Knowles,  by  an  admirable  performance  of  Claude 
Melnotte  and  PauHne  Deschappelles  in  Lord 
Lytton's   "  Favourite    Play  "  —  the    "  Lady   of 


"ON  THE   WING"  83 

Lyons."  And  yet  on  the  Sunday  they  were 
quite  fresh  and  cheery,  and  eager  to  woo  fortune 
in  their  next  town. 

The  week  was  not  without  its  incidents,  and 
one  of  them  was  droll.  For  "  Komeo  and 
Juhet " — and  in  order  to  do  honour  to  the 
occasion — James  Rodgers,  who  was  already  w^ell 
advanced  in  years  (happily  for  those  who  knew 
and  appreciated  him  he  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age), 
and  had  practically  retired  from  the  stage, 
resolved  to  appear  as  Mercutio,  and  if  he  did 
not  quite  look  the  part  played  it  with  a  verve 
and  finish  that  should  make  the  nonchalant 
semi-amateur  actor  of  to-day  blush.  Later  in 
the  week  Mr.  Kendal,  who  was  alw^ays  properly 
fastidious  concerning  the  setting  of  the  stage, 
complained  about  the  absence  of  "upholstery." 
He  was  told  that  the  resources  of  the  establish- 
ment had  been  exhausted,  but  in  his  usual  quiet 
and  determined  way  he  insisted  that  his  remon- 
strance should  be  reported  to  the  management. 
In  the  evening  the  stage  was  certainly  brighter, 
and  silk,  satin,  and  velvet,  adorned  the  furniture. 
Mr.  Kendal  thanked  Mr.  Rodgers  for  the  improve- 
ment, and  not  without  a  touch  of  irony  the  old 
actor  said :  "  Yes,  I  have  had  my  Mercutio 
costume  cut  up  to  help  you  make  your  effects  !  " 


84  THE  KENDALS 

A  touching  episode  is  associated  in  my  mind 
with  the  production  of  "East  Lynne."  Those 
who  are  familiar  with  that  extraordinarily  popular 
play  (I  believe  that  many  fortunes  have  been 
made  out  of  it)  will  remember  that  the  (to  some 
of  us)  objectionable  "  stage  child"  is  always  in 
evidence.  Mr.  Kendal  had,  in  face  of  the 
audience,  to  kiss  one  of  these  objectionable 
little  people,  and,  noticing  that  the  poor  mite 
cast  for  the  part  had  a  pitiable  eruption  about 
the  mouth,  he  resolutely,  but  certainly  not 
unreasonably,  asked  for  a  substitute.  There 
was  no  difficulty  about  that,  but  Mrs.  Kendal's 
woman's  heart  and  characteristic  "  quickness  " 
saw  tears  gather  in  the  little  thing's  eyes,  and 
knew  that  it  (probably  it  was  the  offspring  of 
the  stage  carpenter  or  the  gasman)  would  have 
the  heartache  if  it  did  not  appear.  Accordingly 
she  took  some  of  the  most  good-natured  of  the 
members  of  the  stock  company  into  her  con- 
fidence, and  when  the  "  drop  "  fell  on  one  of  the 
acts  they  went  through  the  little  scene  in  which 
the  child  had  to  be  seen,  and  sent  it  home  happy 
in  the  belief  that  a  first  successful  appearance 
had  been  made  "  before  the  public." 

I  have  another  little  story  to  tell  concerning 
Mrs.   Kendal  and  "East  Lynne."      It  will  be 


"  ON   THE    WING  "  B5 

remembered   how  the  hapless   Lady    Isabel,  in 
the  disguise  of  Madame  Vine,  retm'ns   to   her 
husband's  home,  and  while  posing  as  his  gover- 
ness nurses  her  own  child  on  its  bed  of  sore 
sickness.     In  a  Yorkshire  town,  soon  after  the 
death  of  her  first  child,  Mrs.  Kendal  was  playing 
this  part  when  the  memory  of  another  tiny  bed 
and  another  piteous  little  face   affected  her  so 
strongly  that  she  momentarily  broke  down  with 
real  emotion.     Whether  the  audience  thought  it 
w^as  "  acting  "    or    not    I    cannot    say,  but    it 
certainly  made  its  mark,  for  a  woman  (no  doubt 
a  mother  herself)  stood  up  in  the  pit,  and  with 
tears  coursing  down   her  face,   cried  out  "  No 
more  !     No  more  !  "     I  beheve  that  I  am  right 
in   saying  that  after   that  sad  experience  Mrs. 
Kendal  declined  to  play  the  part  again.     Now 
that  kindly  time  has  filmed  over  her  wound  she 
can  tell  the  story,  and  even,  in  her  own  delight- 
ful way,  put  a  little  grain  of  humour  into  it,  for 
she  can   remember   that   while   her   heart   was 
WTung  with  real   anguish   the   little   Yorkshire 
child  said,  in  the  parrot-like  fashion  in  which  it 
had  been  taught,   "  A'  cannot  see  you  or  eear 
your  voice.         A'  can  ownly  eear  the  singin'  of 
those  voices  in  the   shinin'  garden.       Theear  ! 
Theear!" 


86  THE  KENDALS 

Those  who  have  glanced  at  the  reprinted 
handbill  of  this  engagement  will  see  that  the 
week's  programme  included  the  production  of  a 
comedietta  from  the  pen  of  a  namesake  of  mine, 
entitled  "  Weeds."  In  it  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal 
played  so  admirably  that  its  success  was  a  thing 
assured.  Not  long  ago  I  told  this  Mr.  Pemberton 
that,  having  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure 
such  a  wonderful  start,  it  seemed  a  pity  that  he 
had  not  made  more  enduring  success  as  a 
dramatist.  In  reply  he  referred  to  the  story  told 
in  the  German  ballad  called  "  Schon-Eohtraut  " 
— the  story  of  the  King's  daughter  who  would 
neither  spin  nor  sew,  but  who  fished  and  hunted 
and  rode  on  horseback  through  the  woods,  with 
her  father's  page  for  her  only  companion.  Of 
course  the  poor  lad  fell  in  love  with  his  sweet 
young  mistress ;  and  one  day,  as  they  rested 
themselves  under  a  great  oak,  the  merry  Schon- 
Eohtraut  laughed  aloud  at  her  woe-stricken 
companion,  and  cried,  "  Why  do  you  look  at  me 
so  lovingly?  If  you  have  the  heart  to  do  it, 
come  and  kiss  me,  then !  " 

Whereupon  the  lad,  with  a  terrible  inward 
tremor  probably,  went  up  and  kissed  Schon- 
Eohtraut' s  laughing  lips.  And  they  two  rode 
quietly  home ;    but   the   page   joyously  said   to 


"ON   THE   WING"  87 

himself,  "  I  do  not  care  now  whether  she  were 
to  be  made  Empress  to-day,  for  all  the  leaves 
of  the  forest  know  that  I  have  kissed  Schon- 
Rohtraut's  mouth."  And  my  namesake — and 
I  know  he  spoke  from  his  heart — said  that  of  his 
httle  play  called  "Weeds"  he  felt  very  much 
hke  the  page  of  this  quaint  old  legend.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kendal  had  been  applauded  and 
praised  in  a  something  that  he  had  written, 
and  he  had  achieved  more  than  he  had  a  right 
to  expect.  Mentally  he  had  kissed  Schon- 
Rohtraut's  lips,  and  the  memory  of  it  would, 
whatever  might  betide,  cHng  to  him  for  many 
a  long  day. 

In  connection  with  "  Weeds  "  there  is  a  little 
story  to  tell.  The  trifle  was  so  called  because 
its  principal  character  was  that  of  a  young 
widow,  and  this  part  was  of  course  taken  by 
Mrs.  Kendal.  During  the  week  she  went  into 
one  of  those  ghastly  (but  no  doubt  profitable) 
emporiums  where  "mourning  is  supplied  on 
the  shortest  notice,"  to  select  a  widow's  cap, 
and  the  writer  of  the  piece  went  with  her. 
While  she  (of  course  her  popular  face  was 
famiHar  to  every  one)  was  making  her  purchase, 
he  noticed  a  look  of  surprised  horror  on  the 
faces   of   the  staring  attendants,  and  presently 


88  THE  KENDALS 

the  proprietor  of  the  establishment  came  to 
him  and  said,  "  It  must  have  been  very 
sudden,  sir !  I  saw  him  acting  last  night ! 
How  wonderfully  she  bears  it  !  "  They  all 
tko2ight  that  Mr.  Kendal  was  dead,  and  that 
she  was  selecting  a  tribute  to  his  memory  ! 

Happily  that  illusion  was  soon  dispelled,  and 
the  week  that  had  been  regarded  as  an  experi- 
mental one  was  a  triumph.  In  the  robust, 
manly,  and  poetical  characters  that  he  was 
called  upon  to  play  Mr.  Kendal  seemed  to 
portray 

"  Courtliness,  and  the  desire  of  fame 
And  love  of  truth,  and  all  that  makes  a  man  "  ; 

and  in  Mrs.  Kendal  the  crowded  houses  dis- 
covered and  never  forgot  that  mysterious 
"something"  which  brings  an  actor  or  actress 
into  immediate  sympathy  with  an  audience. 
Of  that  indefinable  "something"  (some  people 
call  it  "magnetism")  she  has  truly  said:  "If 
it  were  easy  of  definition,  it  might  be  easy  of 
acquirement,  but  it  is  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other,  and  the  only  thing  we  can  say  is  that 
the  man  or  woman  who  does  not  possess  this 
peculiar  quality  is  never  likely  to  exercise  a 
great   hold   on   the   public,  even  though  he  or 


"ON   THE    WING"  89 

she  may  be,  in  every  other  respect,  a  very 
admirable  artist.  The  dramatic  instinct  and 
the  subtle  hmnan  sympathy  which  brings  one 
into  touch  with  the  feelings  of  one's  fellow- 
creatures  cannot  be  acquired  either  by  study 
or  perseverance ;  and  if  these  are  among  the 
inner  secrets  of  success — as  I  have  a  shrewd 
suspicion  they  are — then  it  will  be  seen  why 
there  is  no  roj-al  road  to  dramatic  fame. 
Many  actors,  however,  have  attained  a  certain 
measure  of  popularity  on  account  of  the  public 
being  told  they  were  great  actors  until  it  began 
to  believe;  but  unless  an  actor  has  the  neces- 
sary '  staying-power,'  unless  he  possesses  this 
mysterious  '  something,'  no  amount  of  critical 
laudation  can  ever  serve  to  retain  a  popularity 
which  may  have  been  so  earned,  as  the  public 
is  wonderfully  correct  in  its  judgments,  and  the 
public  is  the  actor's  first  and  final  court  of  appeal. 
"As  I  have  said,  a  man  or  woman  may  be 
a  very  good  artist  and  yet  lack  this  indefinable 
quality  which  makes  for  success  or  greatness. 
It  is  a  common  thing  to  see  very  finished 
actors  never  rising  beyond  second-  or  third- 
rate  parts,  while  others  of  far  less  artistic 
finish  climb  to  the  very  front  and  draw  the 
public  to  see  them  in  every  new  part  they  may 


90  THE  KENDALS 

assume.  The  one  class  lacks  that  sympathetic 
nature  which  is  the  other's  chief  endowment, 
and  while  the  public  sits  unmoved,  but  ad- 
miring, at  the  performance  of  the  one,  it  is 
roused  to  enthusiasm  at  the  impersonations  of 
the  other.  The  answer,  then,  to  the  question, 
What  is  the  secret  of  dramatic  success  ?  would 
seem  to  be  :  Be  born  with  this  peculiar  charm 
and  5^ou  will  be  able  to  awaken  the  S3mipathies 
of  your  audience.  And  as  no  actor  ever  became 
great  who  had  not  the  power  to  move  the  hearts 
of  others,  no  study  or  perseverance  can  make 
up  for  this  gift  where  Mother  Nature  has  not 
been  indulgent.  Of  course  devotion  to  one's 
art  and  arduous  practice  can  make  a  man  or 
a  woman  a  good  artist  even  when  this  great 
o'ift  has  been  denied ;  but  if  one  studies  the 
characteristics  of  our  great  actors,  past  or 
present,  one  will  find  that  their  distinguishing 
feature  is  the  degree  in  which  they  have 
possessed  or  do  possess  this  indescribable 
something  which  is  very  inadequately  defined 
by  some  people  as  'personality.'" 

Yes,  in  the  days  of  1874 — long,  long  before 
she  realised  her  own  power  —  we  saw  and 
appreciated  that  "indescribable  something  "  in 
Mrs.  Kendal. 


"ON  THE    WING"  91 

Mr.  James  Eodgers  was  very  proud  of  the 
great  success  of  what  he  was  afterwards  wont 
to  call  the  first  real  "Kendal  Week"  at  his 
Birmingham  Theatre,  and  from  that  moment 
he  and  they  became  staunch  friends.  In  after 
years  it  became  a  great  delight  to  me  to  sit  at 
his  hospitable  table  with  my  friends,  and  to 
hear  the  old  actor  fight  his  (stage)  battles 
"o'er  again."  Of  course  the  Kendals  could 
not  remember  all  that  he  could  conjure  up, 
but  by  hearsay  they  knew  much  about  the 
past,  and  their  questions  and  suggestions 
struck  a  veritable  mine  of  theatrical  lore. 
Under  the  roof  of  James  Eodgers,  indeed,  I 
have  met  Henry  Irving,  J.  L.  Toole,  John 
Hare,  Lionel  Brough,  W.  H.  Vernon,  Madame 
Eistori,  Miss  Genevieve  Ward,  Madame  Mod- 
jeska,  and  other  leading  lights  of  the  stage, 
and  it  was  pleasant  to  see  how  one  and  all 
appreciated  their  courtly  host,  and  liked  to 
hear  his  memories  of  bygone  days. 

In  all  ways  he  was  a  most  interesting  man 
and  the  truest  of  friends ;  but  I  think  he  lacked 
a  sense  of  humour.  Be  that  as  it  may,  I  know 
that  he  commissioned  the  author  of  "Weeds" 
to  write  him  a  pantomime,  especially  insisting 
on  the  stipulation  that  it  must  be  a  "comic" 


92  THE  KENDALS 

pantomime.  When  it  was  finished  the  anxious 
yomig  dramatist  read  it  to  him,  but  from  start  to 
finish  the  manager  gave  neither  sign  nor  sound. 
When  at  last  the  manuscript  was  laid  on  his 
table  he  said,  "Yes,  yes,  I  pass  it.  It  will  do 
very  well,  but  my  audience  expect  a  '  comic ' 
pantomime,  and  I  Jioj^e  this  is  'comic.'" 

"  But,"  cried  the  tantaHsed  author  (who  had 
prided  himself  on  being  remarkably  "  comic," 
and  who  in  the  fashion  of  those  days  had  scat- 
tered puns  over  his  work  as  through  a  pepper- 
box), "  you  have  heard  it  read !  Isn't  it 
comic  ?  " 

"I  don't  know.  My  audiences  must  be  the 
judges  of  that,"  gloomily  responded  Mr.  Eodgers. 

One  more  little  anecdote  of  him  I  must  be 
permitted  to  tell.  When  he  was  quite  an  old 
but  still  an  upright,  vivacious,  and  most  active 
man,  his  well-dressed  hair  was  as  black  and 
glossy  as  a  raven's  wing.  His  "good-natured 
friends"  had  their  suspicions,  and  I  think  they 
were  confirmed  when,  after  being  absent  on  the 
Continent  for  some  weeks,  he  returned  silver- 
headed.  On  his  way  to  Birmingham  he  had 
looked  in  at  his  London  club,  and  there  he  was 
the  unconscious  victim  of  a  practical  joke,  in 
which,  I  think,  Toole  was  the  ringleader.     His 


''ON   THE    WING"  93 

fellow-meinbers  and  intimate  friends  absolutely 
declined  to  know  him  !  It  was  no  use,  they 
declared,  for  him  to  pass  himself  off  as  their 
dear  old  friend  James  Eodgers.  Kodgers  w^as  at 
Ostend,  and  had  jet-black  hair !  The  jest  was 
well  kept  up,  and  I  had  a  telegram  from  one  of 
the  mirth-loving  conspirators  telling  me  what 
had  happened,  and  imploring  me  when  their 
victim  came  to  Birmingham  to  back  them  up 
by  not  recognising  him.  I  am  not  a  good  hand 
at  jokes  of  this  kind,  and  the  first  time  I  met 
my  good  old  friend  I  stopped  and  shook  hands 
with  him. 

"  Ah  !  you  know  me,  then  !  "  said  he,  looking 
pleased. 

"  Of  course,"  I  answered. 

"  You  see  no  great  change  in  my  personal 
appearance  ?  " 

"  No,"  was  the  unblushing  response. 

Eaising  his  hat,  he  said,  with  much  gratifi- 
cation, "  I  thought  not,  but  our  friends  in  town 
declare  they  see  some  grey  hairs  amongst  erst- 
while sable  locks." 

"  Nonsense  !  "  I  said. 

And  it  ivas  nonsense,  for  his  hair  was  snoiv 
white,  and  remarkably  handsome  the  change 
made  him. 


94  THE  KENDALS 

I  think  the  Kendals  never  forgot  the  enthu- 
siastic and  encouraging  "  send  off  "  accorded 
them  in  Birmingham.  At  all  events,  in  after 
years  they  became  very  good  to  the  town, 
giving,  in  the  short  holidays  they  allowed  them- 
selves, readings  in  the  great  town  hall  on  behalf 
of  local  hospitals,  and  thereby  handing  over 
very  handsome  sums  of  money  to  grateful  and 
needy  institutions.  In  those  days  a  useful  but 
acrimonious  little  paper,  far  more  inclined  to 
say  caustic  than  kindly  things,  and  which  was 
wont  to  deliver  itself  in  "open  letters"  to  the 
people  it  wished  to  criticise  and  (generally) 
chastise,  published  the  following  epistle  to  Mrs. 
Kendal,  and  really  it  well  sums  up  the  situa- 
tion : — 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Kendal, — Although  we  have 
not  the  pleasure  of  knowing  each  other,  I  feel 
constrained  at  the  present  moment  to  write 
you  a  few  lines.  No,  you  don't  know  me — but, 
ah  me  !  I  know  you,  and  have  admired  you  (oh, 
how  ardently  I  have  admired  you  !)  from  the 
days  in  which  (as  Madge  Kobertson)  you  came 
here  helping  to  make  the  success  of  poor  dead- 
and-gone  Sothern,  to  that  evening,  only  a  few 
weeks  ago,  when  I  helped  to  cheer  you  and  your 


"ON   THE    WING''  95 

talented  husband  in  Mr.  Pinero's  comedy,  '  The 
Weaker  Sex.'  Birmingham,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Kendal,  has  more  cause  to  be  grateful  to  you 
than  to  any  other  artist  who  has  ever  come 
amongst  us.  Not  only  have  you  periodically 
given  us  unalloyed  delight  by  your  matchless 
powers  as  an  actress,  but  on  more  than  one 
occasion  you  have  come  forward,  and,  without 
the  ghost  of  an  obligation,  done  noble  work 
for  our  useful  but  unhappily  needy  charities. 
Both  the  Queen's  and  the  Women's  Hospitals 
have  already  benefited  by  your  unselfish  labours, 
and  now  the  institution  that  does  so  much 
admirable  work  for  the  afflicted  little  ones  of  our 
town  is  to  have  the  advantage  of  your  kindly 
aid.  Thank  you,  dear  Mrs.  Kendal — in  the 
name  of  the  town — thank  you.  You  hardly 
know,  perhaps,  how  gracious  a  figure,  standing 
in  our  town  hall  by  the  side  of  your  husband, 
and  unaided  by  footlights  or  scenery,  you  pre- 
sent, as,  on  behalf  of  a  noble  cause,  you  fault- 
lessly deliver  your  well-chosen  recitations.  If 
on  those  occasions  you  and  Mr.  Kendal  could 
see  yourselves  as  others  see  you,  as  the  rarely 
gifted  English  lady  and  gentleman  devoting 
your  talents  to  the  benefit  of  the  diseased  chil- 
dren of  an  overcrowded  town,  you  would  have 


96  THE  KENDALS 

your  reward ;  and  if  I  were  in  your  place  I  would 
rather  have  it  in  that  shape  than  in  the  form  of 
a  banquet." 

Early  in  1875  the  discerning  and  energetic 
Mr.  John  Hollingshead  (what  a  monument  of 
labour  that  book  of  his,  entitled  "  Gaiety 
Chronicles,"  reveals !),  ever  on  the  look-out 
for  the  "  best  attraction  going,"  engaged  the 
Kendals  for  a  brief  season  at  the  Opera  Comique, 
and  for  its  second  feature  secured  the  late  (ah ! 
how  sad  it  is  that  in  a  book  like  this  one  should 
so  often  have  to  write  "the  late"!)  Mr.  Arthur 
Cecil,  then  newly  fledged  from  the  nest  of  the 
German  Eeeds  at  the  "  Gallery  of  Illustration," 
and  fast  flying  into  popularity  as  an  actor,  to 
play  parts  new  to  him,  in  which  he  was  sure  to 
excite  curiosity.  In  "  She  Stoops  to  Conquer" 
the  Kendals  were  of  course  "  bound  to  win  " 
in  their  old  Hajnnarket  parts  of  Kate  Hard- 
castle  and  Young  Marlowe  ;  but  of  poor  Arthur 
Cecil  (in  parts  that  suited  him  one  of  the  most 
finished  of  artists)  as  Tony  Lumpkin  Mr. 
Hollingshead  has  recorded  that  it  was  a  most 
"gentlemanly"  performance — "not  quite  what 
Goldsmith  meant,  but  no  matter.  It  was 
Anthony  Lumpkin,    Esq.,    J. P.,   M.P.,    a   good 


"  ON   THE    WING  "  97 

average  county  member,  with  a  dash  of  the 
vestryman  and  the  London  county  councillor." 

Things  seemed  to  go  awry  with  that  season 
at  the  Opera  Comique.  In  that  wonderful 
"Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood  " — a  mystery  that, 
most  unhappily,  was  never  cleared  up  (and 
which  for  their  lifetime  will  haunt  those  who 
love  their  Dickens,  and  who  still  aimlessly  want 
to  unravel  it) — there  is  a  chapter  entitled  "  A 
Gritty  State  of  Things  Comes  On."  In  one  of 
Keane's  delightful  Puncli  pictures  an  elderly 
gentleman  who  had  found  his  way  into  a  county 
cricket  ground,  and  who  has  some  vague  recol- 
lection of  the  game  in  his  schooldays  of  long 
ago,  asks  a  smart  young  "  professional  "  why  a 
certain  deadly  "trundle"  from  the  bowler  was 
called  a  "yorker."  "Well,"  said  the  profes- 
sional, after  a  moment's  thought,  "  what  else 
could  you  call  it  ?  "  Similarly,  I  am  inclined  to 
ask,  why  during  this  Opera  Comique  season  a 
"gritty  state  of  things"  came  on?  Certainly 
it  was  the  only  thing  you  could  call  it. 

Somehow  the  pieces  in  which  the  Kendals — 
departing,  be  it  marked,  from  Haymarket  tradi- 
tions— had  made  such  a  furore  in  the  great 
provincial  centres,  proved,  at  the  moment,  un- 
acceptable to  London.     The  critics  "  snapped  " 


98  THE  KENDALS 

at  "  The  Lady  of  Lyons,"  and  the  pubHc 
followed  the  warning  of  the  critics.  Even 
when  "  As  You  Like  It  "  was  excellently 
produced  the  support  was  as  poor  as  the  praise 
was  faint-hearted,  though  all  that  the  most 
outspoken  and  competent  critic  of  those  days 
had  to  say  of  the  Kosalind  of  Mrs.  Kendal 
was  : — 

"  One  side  of  the  character  of  Kosahnd  is 
shown  by  Mrs.  Kendal  with  admirable  clearness 
and  point.  So  suited  to  her  style  are  the  ban- 
tering speeches  Shakespeare  has  put  into  the 
mouth  of  RosaHnd,  they  might  almost  have  been 
written  for  her.  A  certain  undercurrent  of  irony" 
(this  remains  true  criticism  to-day)  "  is  apparent 
in  all  Mrs.  Kendal's  acting.  At  times  its  effect 
is  excellent.  The  most  telling  pathos  has  a 
flavour  of  the  kind.  So  strong  is  this  in  the 
writings  of  Thackeray,  it  has  caused  one  of  the 
most  tender  and  sympathetic  of  writers  to  be 
regarded  as  a  satirist.  With  Mrs.  Kendal,  how- 
ever, the  irony  can  scarcely,  perhaps,  be  said  to 
add  to  the  pathos.  The  woman  seems  always 
a  little  inclined  to  deride  her  own  weaknesses, 
and  to  pity  and  laugh  at  herself  for  her  yieldings. 
Such  speeches  as  those  addressed  to  Orlando 
by  the  supposed  Ganymede  were  delivered  with 


Photo  by] 


[Ikirrciu''. 


MKS.    KENPAL    AS    "ROSALIND. 


"ON  THE   WING"  99 

marvellous  effect,  and  the  short  epilogue  was 
delightful.  AVhat  was  wanting  was  the  under- 
lying tenderness  that  more  emotional  artists 
are  able  to  present." 

I  venture  to  think  that  "  what  was  wanting" 
was  an  appreciative  audience.  Certainly  I  had 
recently  seen  the  tender  side  of  Eosahnd's  beau- 
tiful character  shown  to  a  house  that  understood 
the  actress's  art,  and  warmed  her  for  her  work. 

Mr.  Kendal  was  of  course  the  manly  and  pic- 
turesque Orlando,  and  Mr.  Arthur  Cecil  essayed 
the  character  of  Touchstone.  Eecognising  the 
fact  that  the  jester  had  been  familiar  with  courts, 
he  invested  the  part  with  commendable  quietude 
and  dignity.  His  appreciative  and  skilful  utter- 
ance of  Shakespearean  wit  was  duly  noted  by  the 
critical,  but  to  the  "  general  "  the  performance 
lacked  breadth  and  colour. 

It  was  just  at  this  time  that  Mr.  John  Hare, 
who  had  been  with  the  Bancrofts  ever  since  the 
memorable  opening  night  of  the  old  Prince  of 
Wales's  theatre  in  1865  (a  night  that  really 
brought  about  the  renaissance  of  the  English 
stage),  and  who  so  far  had  shared  in  all  their 
triumphs  —  Robertsonian  and  otherwise  —  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  woo  fortune  on  his  own 
account,  and  to  become  his  own  manager. 


100  THE  KENDALS 

With  this  object  in  view — and  not  without 
many  reluctant  farewells  to  his  dear  friends  in 
Tottenham  Street — he  had  taken  the  old  Court 
Theatre  (hard  by,  but  on  a  different  site  to  the 
existing  Court  Theatre)  in  Sloane  Square, 
Chelsea.  Naturally  anxious  to  surround  him- 
self with  the  most  popular  company  he  could 
gather  together,  he  was  lucky  enough  to  secure 
the  Kendals,  and,  on  March  13,  1875,  the  new 
venture  was  successfully  launched  with  the 
production  of  an  original  comedy  by  Mr.  Charles 
Coghlan  entitled  "Lady  Flora."  It  was  written 
on  the  familiar  Kobertson  lines — admirably  witty 
in  dialogue,  but  without  the  strongly  marked 
characterisation  that  had  had  so  much  to  do 
with  the  success  of  "  Ours,"  "  Caste,"  and 
"  School." 

Faultlessly  acted  by  a  company  that,  in 
addition  to  Mr.  Hare  and  the  Kendals,  included 
the  well-known  names  of  Mrs.  Gaston  Murray, 
Miss  Amy  Fawsitt,  Miss  Bessie  Hollingshead, 
Miss  Mary  Korke,  Mr.  E.  Cathcart,  Mr.  H. 
Kemble,  Mr.  Charles  Kelly,  and  Mr.  John 
Clayton,  it  was  deservedly  well  received,  and 
had  a  fair  run,  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  it 
gave  any  of  its  exponents  good  acting  chances. 

Mr.  Kendal  once  more  contented  himself  with 


"ON   THE   WING"  101 

a  colourless  part,  but  Mrs.  Kendal  (still  figuring 
in  the  playbill  as  "Miss  Madge  Robertson") 
made  the  character  of  Lady  Flora  sympathetic, 
and  displayed  power  and  finish  of  style.  In  a 
position  of  difficulty,  in  which  she  had  to  make 
the  first  advances  to  a  lover  afraid  of  the  wealth 
and  station  he  covets,  her  delicacy  was  of  signal 
service ;  and  her  burst  of  indignation  in  the 
closing  scene,  when  she  offered  to  accompany  to 
the  railway  the  man  whose  banishment  was  due 
to  his  affection  for  her,  was  excellent. 

So  much  for  her  acting.  As  for  the  part  a 
critic  aptly  said:  "A  man  less  resolute  in  pur- 
suit than  Armytage  might  find  the  lady's  pro- 
ceedings almost  too  unconventional,  and  might, 
after  the  example  of  a  lover,  not  much  given  to 
squeamishness  in  like  matters,  sing — 

"  '  The  apple  that  melts  without  squeezing 
Is  rather  too  mellow  for  me.'  " 

Mr.  Hare's  next  production  was  a  "  comedy- 
drama  "  by  Mr.  Hamilton  Aide  entitled  "  A 
Nine  Days'  Wonder."  This  was  a  pretty  and 
interesting  rather  than  a  great  play,  but  Mrs. 
Kendal  had  some  admirable  and  infinitely 
touching  scenes  with  Mr.  Hare  (played  to  per- 
fection by  both  artists),  and  no  one  who  heard  it 


102  THE  KENDAL S 

will  ever  forget  Mrs.  Kendal's  exquisitely  tender 
rendering  of  Mr.  Aide's  charming  song  com- 
mencing— 

"  Oh,  let  me  dream  of  happy  days  gone  by, 
Forgetting  sorrows  that  have  come  between." 

With  the  Kendals  as  leading  members  of 
his  company  it  was  only  natural  that  Mr.  Hare 
should  think  it  advisable  to  commission  Mr. 
W.  S.  Gilbert  to  write  another  of  those  "  fairy 
comedies  "  which  they  had  made  so  attractive  at 
the  Haymarket ;  and  so  on  December  9,  1875, 
"  Broken  Hearts  "  was  produced.  It  was  a 
charming  play,  and  well  merited  the  words  of 
that  giant  amongst  critics,  Mr.  Joseph  Knight, 
who  wrote :  "  That  Mr.  Gilbert  should  have  found 
fairy  stories  a  convenient  vehicle  for  satire  is 
easily  conceived.  One  of  the  simplest  and  most 
customary  means  of  ridiculing  human  institu- 
tions is  to  test  their  effect  upon  unsophisticated 
natures.  Fairy  machinery  lends  itself  readily  to 
such  a  purpose.  In  a  world  in  which  nothing 
can  be  pronounced  impossible  or  illogical,  since 
the  law  of  sequence  is  abrogated,  the  wildest 
experiments  are  permissible.  In  his  fairy  dramas, 
accordingly,  Mr.  Gilbert  has  done  elaborately 
what,  with  machinery  much   less   complicated, 


"ON  THE   WING"  103 

was  accomplished  by  Voltaire  in  more  than  one  of 
his  tales,  and  notably  in  his  '  L'Ingenu.'    Galatea 
—  who  from  a  statue  is  converted  into  a  woman, 
and  who,  in  a  candid  and  ingenuous  search  after 
truth,  finds  nothing  around  her  but  deceit,  insin- 
cerity, and  sham— is  a  feminine  counterpart  to 
the  Huron  of  Voltaire.     Gradually,  however,  in 
his  employment  of  these  means,  Mr.  Gilbert  has 
laid  upon  them  a  heavier  duty.     At   first   the 
satirical   purpose   was    sufficient.      The    comic 
complications  of  '  The  Wicked  World  '  sought 
only    to    provoke    laughter.       In    '  Pygmalion 
and  Galatea '  the  author  blended  sadness  with 
mirth,   and   by  a   humanising   touch   presented 
his    heroine   as   sickened   with   the   follies   and 
frivohties   around   her,   and   seeking   again   the 
repose    of    marble    from   which   she   had   been 
roused.  .  From    this    position   to   that   he   now 
assumes  is  a  short  and  easy  step.     After   pre- 
senting a  being  weary  of  the  torments  of  love, 
and  invoking  obhvion,  it  is   natural   to   depict 
one   to   whom   the    torments   themselves   shall 
prove   fatal.      In    three    pieces,   however,    Mr. 
Gilbert  has  presented  himself  in  as  many  dif- 
ferent lights.     In  '  The  Wicked  World '  he  is  a 
satirist,  in  '  Pygmalion   and   Galatea  '   he  is  a 
humorist,  and  in  '  Broken  Hearts '  he  is  a  poet. 


104  TEE  KENDALS 

The  three  plays  together  form  the  most  impor- 
tant contribution  to  fairy  Uterature  that  has  been 
suppHed  by  any  dramatist,  or,  indeed,  any  writer, 
since  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury." 

Yes,  it  was  in  truth  a  stage  poem,  and  it  was 
poetically  rendered  by  Mr.  Kendal  as  Prince 
Florian,  Mrs.  Kendal  as  Lady  Hilda,  and 
(notably)  by  Miss  HolHngshead  as  Lady  Yavir. 
As  a  stage  production  it  was  perfect,  but  I 
suppose  at  that  time  the  fickle  London  playgoer 
was  not  in  the  mood  for  such  high-class  work. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  "Broken  Hearts"  did  not 
receive  half  the  support  that  it  merited,  and 
most  unhappily  it  was  the  last  of  the  Gilbert 
fairy  plays.  Why  cannot  that  delightfully 
fanciful  writer  give  us  another  ? 

The  next  production  at  the  Court  Theatre 
proved  to  be  one  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal's 
greatest  triumphs.  When  I  was  writing  the 
story  of  his  stage  career  Mr.  Hare  told  me  how, 
ever  since,  as  an  amateur,  he  had  taken  part  in 
a  representation  of  Mr.  Palgrave  Simpson's  first 
adaptation  of  M.  Yictorien  Sardou's  famous 
French  comedy,  "  Les  Pattes  de  Mouche,"  he 
had  been  struck  with  the  wonderful  possibilities 
of  the  play.     That  first  English  version,  in  which 


"  ON  THE   WING  "  105 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alfred  Wigan  had  appeared  in  the 
parts  destined  to  become  so  popular  in  the  hands 
of  the  Kendals,  had  not  "  drawn  the  town,"  and 
it  had  been  set  down  as  a  mere  succds  cVestime. 
This,  Mr.  Hare  felt,  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
Mrs.  Alfred  Wigan,  although  perfectly  artistic 
in  all  she  did,  was  at  the  time  it  fell  in  her 
way  too  old  for  the  part  of  the  vivacious  and 
fascinating  heroine.  Her  performance  was  full 
of  ability,  but  it  had  lacked  "charm."  He  felt 
certain  that  in  Mrs.  Kendal's  clever  hands, 
backed  by  her  fascinating  appearance  and 
manner,  this  difficult  character  would,  from 
every  point  of  view,  be  perfectly  safe  ;  and  the 
result  proved  the  correctness  of  his  judgment. 

Mr.  Palgrave  Simpson  was  easily  persuaded 
to  revise  his  work,  and  make  it  absolutely 
"  EngHsh,"  and  this  newly  twisted  up  "  Scrap 
of  Paper "  was  an  immediate  and  enormous 
success.  As  Susan  Hartley  Mrs.  Kendal  was 
voted  perfect ;  and  as  Colonel  Blake  Mr.  Kendal 
surprised  every  one  and  aroused  enthusiasm. 
At  last  this  true  artist  had  an  opportunity  of 
evincing  his  infectious  sense  of  humour,  and 
of  proving  what  he  could  do  when  a  really  good 
(albeit  very  intricate)  comedy  part  came  in  his 
way.     "  A  Scrap  of  Paper  "  had  a  prolonged  run 


106  THE  KENDALS 

at  the  Court  Theatre,  and  subsequently  became 
one  of  the  most  popular  productions  of  the  Hare 
and  Kendal  management  at  the  St.  James's. 
It  still  proves,  and,  as  long  as  they  go  on  playing 
it,  is  likely  to  prove  one  of  the  most  attractive 
and  popular  items  of  the  Kendals'  repertory. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  playgoers  in  Great 
Britain  and  America  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  have 
delighted  as  Susan  Hartley  and  Colonel  Blake. 
In  such  little  pieces  as  "  Uncle's  Will  "  they  had 
shown  how,  by  playing  into  each  other's  hands, 
they  could  exchange  repartee,  and  "  A  Scrap  of 
Paper"  seemed  hke  "Uncle's  Will,"  "written 
large"  and  with  a  serious  purpose  behind  its 
badinage.  If  any  one  still  doubts  the  influence 
of  true  acting  on  the  masses  I  should  like  to 
take  him  to  see,  as  I  have  over  and  over  again 
seen,  the  Kendals  playing  in  "  A  Scrap  of  Paper  " 
to  an  overcrowded,  and  not  always  too  select, 
audience  in  a  provincial  town.  The  piece  is 
so  w^ell  known  now  that  every  line  in  it  is 
familiar  to  their  loyal  followers,  but  the  laughter 
is  always  there,  the  sympathy  is  always  there, 
the  excitement  is  always  there,  and  above  all, 
that  hushed  silence  between  the  laughter  and 
applause,  which  is  the  highest  tribute  that  can 


Dioto  hi/] 


acnxv  OF  I'AI'EK. 


"O.V   THE    WING"  107 

be  paid  to  actor  and  actress,  is  always  there. 
Truly  a  magnificent  and  lasting  success  ! 

I  have  called  this  chapter  "  On  the  Wing," 
and  as  the  Kendals  were  free  to  flutter  where 
they  chose,  they  accepted,  after  the  first  long 
run  of  "  A  Scrap  of  Paper  "  at  the  Court  Theatre, 
an  offer  to  join  and  appear  with  the  Bancrofts 
at  that  famous  little  house,  the  old  Prince  of 
Wales's  Theatre  in  Tottenham  Street. 

Their  first  parts  there  were  Lady  Ormonde 
and  Dr.  Thornton  in  "  Peril,"  by  Messrs.  Clement 
Scott  and  B.  C.  Stephenson,  who  chose  in  those 
days  to  call  themselves  "  Saville  Eowe  and 
Bolton  Eowe."  "Peril"  was  a  stage  version 
of  Victorien  Sardou's  brilhant  comedy,  "  Nos 
Intimes,"  which  had  already  been  made  familiar 
to  English  audiences  not  only  by  eminent  French 
actors,  but  by  adaptations  entitled  "  Friends  and 
Foes"  and  "Our  Friends."  Now  for  the  first 
time  it  was  completely  Anglicised.  The  scene 
was  laid  in  the  country  house  of  a  wealthy 
English  baronet,  and  all  the  characters  had 
their  English  names  and  degrees.  By  some 
this  was  not  thought  an  improvement,  and  one 
clever  ^mter  said:  "It  is  difficult  to  change 
the  venue  and  the  citizenship  of  French  comedy 
and  its  characters.     No  pains  have  been  spared, 


108  THE  KENDALS 

and  indeed  considerable  ingenuity  has  been 
exercised  in  the  matter ;  but,  at  most,  the  play 
has  been  denationalised  somewhat.  An  artificial 
view  of  French  life  and  manner  and  idiosyncrasy 
is  hardly  to  be  converted  into  an  acceptable 
picture  of  English  society.  Throughout  the 
play  it  is  felt  that  the  characters,  the  motives 
swaying  them,  the  situations  in  which  they 
appear,  the  relationship  they  bear  to  each  other, 
the  air  they  breathe,  are  not  of  Britannic  nature. 
The  masquerade  may  be  clever  enough  and  well 
sustained,  but  every  domino  hides  a  French- 
man." 

But,  in  spite  of  a  good  deal  of  criticism  such 
as  this,  "Peril"  became  exceedingly  popular. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  scored  in  their  parts  (he 
was  exceedingly  happy  as  Dr.  Thornton),  and  the 
piece  had  a  long  run.  It  still  holds  the  stage ; 
and  in  Sir  Woodbine  Grafton,  a  character  created 
and  right  well  played  by  Mr.  Arthur  Cecil,  Mr. 
Beerbohm  Tree  has  found  one  of  his  favourite 
character  studies. 

By  the  way,  it  was  about  this  time  that 
theatrical  managers  were  being  good-huinouredly 
chaffed  about  over-attention  to  stage  upholstery, 
and  I  have  in  my  mind's  eye  a  picture  that 
appeared   in   Punch    labelled   "Peril,"    and   in 


"ON   THE    WING"  109 

which  a  luckless  actor  and  a  helpless  actress, 
who  ought  to  have  got  away  from  each  other,  or 
who  ought  to  have  come  together,  I  cannot  say 
which,  were  hopelessly  imprisoned  in  the  col- 
lections of  chairs,  tables,  cabinets,  and  bric-a-brac 
by  which  they  were  not  only  surrounded  but 
enveloped. 

The  next  venture  at  the  Tottenham  Street 
house  was  an  admirable  revival  of  Dion  Bouci- 
cault's  "London  Assurance,"  revised  by  the 
author  and  reduced  to  four  acts.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  I  am  absolutely  wrong,  but  I  have 
always  regarded  this  as  the  most  overrated  and 
artificial  of  plays,  and  whenever  I  see  it  I  think 
of  what  Charles  Dickens  wrote  about  it  in  the 
far-off  days  of  1847.  "  Shall  I  ever  forget,"  he 
says,  "  Yestris  in  'London  Assurance'  (Madame 
Yestris  was  the  original  Grace  Harkaway) 
bursting  out  wdth  certain  praises  (they  always 
elicited  three  rounds) — of  a  country  morning,  I 
think  it  was  ?  The  atrocity  was  perpetrated,  I 
remember,  on  a  lawn  before  a  villa.  It  was  led 
up  to  by  flower-pots.  The  thing  was  as  like  any 
honest  sympathy,  or  honest  English,  as  the  rose- 
pink  on  a  sweep's  face  on  May  Day  is  to  a  beau- 
tiful complexion  ;  but  Harley  (he  was  the 
'  creator '  of  Mark  Meddle)   generally  appeared 


110  THE  KENDAL S 

touched  to  the  soul,  and  a  man  in  the  pit  always 
cried  out,  '  Beau-ti-ful '  !  " 

Probably  the  play  was  never  better  acted  than 
it  was  at  the  Prince  of  Wales's  in  1877,  and  I 
do  not  think  it  ever  had  a  longer  run.  Con- 
cerning the  alterations  Mr.  Boucicault  wisely 
wrote  to  Mr.  Bancroft  from  America : — 

"Your  shape  of  'London  Assurance'  will  be, 
like  all  you  have  done  at  the  Prince  of  Wales's, 
unexceptionable.  I  wish  I  could  be  there  to 
taste  your  brew."  And  he  was  right.  All  the 
changes  were  improvements,  and  it  was  staged 
in  the  most  admirable  taste. 

And  yet,  great  success  though  the  production 
was,  Mrs.  Bancroft  (now  Lady  Bancroft)  tells  a 
curious  anecdote  of  its  first  night.  "  The  pro- 
gramme," she  says,  "  was  not  over  until  very 
late,  and  greatly  accounted  for  the  extraordinary 
silence  on  which  the  curtain  finally  fell.  But  I 
shall  never  forget  the  effect  it  had  on  all  con- 
cerned. Mrs.  Kendal  was  amazed ;  it  seemed  to 
take  away  her  breath,  and  after  a  long  look  of 
surprise,  first  at  one  person,  then  at  another, 
she  exclaimed,  '  Well ! '  Mr.  Kendal  remarked, 
'  What  does  it  mean  ?  '  Mr.  Cecil  observed, 
'  That's  funny  ! '  Mr.  Bancroft  replied  quietly, 
'  I   don't    see    where    the    fun  comes    in — it's 


"ON   THE    WING"  111 

deuced  puzzling !  '  There  they  all  stood,  just 
as  the  curtain  had  closed  them  in,  with  an 
expression  of  blank  wonder  on  every  face — sans 
applause,  sans  call,  sans  everything  !  Eventually 
Mr.  Bancroft  follow^ed  me  to  my  room,  and 
asked  what  I  thought.  Was  it  a  failure  ?  The 
comedy  went  very  well  throughout  until  the  very 
end — then  utter  silence !  What  could  it  fore- 
bode ?  How  little  an  audience  knows  what 
power  it  possesses !  and  how  frequently  it  can 
deprive  a  manager  of  a  night's  rest — nay, 
several ! 

"  This  remarkable  occurrence  was  the  topic 
of  our  conversation  all  the  next  day ;  but  our 
hearts  were  made  easy  by  the  good  old  comedy 
proving  a  great  success  until  the  end  of  the 
season,  and  Mrs.  Kendal  fairly  revelled  in  the 
part  of  Lady  Gay." 

The  play  was  splendidly  cast.  Mr.  Kendal 
was  a  dashing,  manly,  and  interesting  Charles 
Courtly ;  Mr.  Bancroft  was  w^ell  suited  as 
Dazzle;  and  Mr.  Arthur  Cecil  gave  quite  a 
convincing  picture  of  Sir  Harcourt  Courtly ; 
returning  to  the  scene  of  his  former  triumph 
in  "Caste,"  Mr.  George  Honey  was  very  droll 
as  that  impossible  stage  lawyer,  Mark  Meddle ; 
Miss  Carlotta  Addison  was  charming  as  Grace 


112  THE  KENDALS 

Harkaway;  and  Mrs.  Bancroft  really  did  won- 
ders and  became  very  popular  in  the  small 
character  of  Pert.  No  doubt  she  "  gagged " 
the  part,  but  happy  the  author  to  be  "gagged" 
by  such  an  actress  !  "  London  Assurance  "  was 
preceded  by  a  captivating  little  play,  adapted 
from  the  French  of  M.  Octave  Feuillet  by 
Mr.  Clement  Scott,  entitled  "  The  Vicarage." 
In  it,  except  for  a  servant's  part,  there  were 
only  three  characters,  and  yet  it  was  a  perfect 
little  drama  in  miniature.  The  three  life 
studies  were  exquisitely  rendered  by  Mrs.  Ban- 
croft, Mr.  Arthur  Cecil,  and  Mr.  Kendal,  who 
quite  startled  his  audience  by  his  strikingly 
handsome  appearance  as  a  bearded  traveller. 

It  was  during  the  run  of  "Peril,"  and  on  an 
Ash  Wednesday,  when,  in  obedience  to  the 
ridiculous  legislation  of  those  days,  all  West  End 
London  theatres  had  (at  heavy  loss)  to  close  their 
doors,  while  places  of  entertainment  were  kept 
open  all  over  the  country,  that  Mr.  Bancroft,  ac- 
companied by  Mr.  Kendal,  journeyed  to  Paris  to 
see  Sardou's  latest  production,  "Dora."  They 
were  delighted  with  the  play,  and  before  their 
hurried  visit  was  at  an  end  Mr.  Bancroft  had 
purchased  the  English  rights  in  it  at  a  price 
never  hitherto  paid  to  a  French  dramatist. 


"ON   THE    WING"  113 

Pending  the  adaptation  and  production  of  an 
English  version  of  "Dora,"  the  Kendals  had  to 
fulfil  their  engagements  in  the  provinces,  for, 
very  wisely  and  very  rightly,  whatever  their 
London  successes  might  be,  they  never  forgot 
their  trusty  friends  in  (apart  from  London)  the 
great  cities  and  townships  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland.  Indeed,  this  constancy  on  their 
part  has  made  them  by  far  the  most  popular 
of  all  the  artists  who  have  "  taken  to  the  road." 
Their  annual  visits  were  (and  still  are)  looked 
upon  as  annual  gala  days,  and  they  have  no 
idea  (I  often  tell  them  so)  how  they  have 
endeared  themselves  to  thousands  and  thousands 
of  "all  sorts  and  conditions"  of  people.  They 
have  always  played  as  if  they  loved  their 
audiences,  and  their  audiences  have  ever  re- 
ceived them  as  if  they  loved  them. 

It  has  fallen  to  my  lot  to  mix  much  with  the 
working  classes  in  one  of  our  largest  manufac- 
turing cities,  and  I  know  how  much  delight  a 
visit  to  the  theatre,  and  the  remembrance  of  it, 
brings  to  their  monotonous  and  jaded  lives. 
These  eager  frequenters  of  the  shilling  pit  or 
the  sixpenny  gallery  generally,  and  with  much 
affection,  retain  their  playbills.  I  have  seen 
scores  and  scores  of  them  carefully  stowed  away 


114  THE  KENDALS 

under  the  work-bench  in  the  manufactory,  or 
in  a  well-guarded  drawer  in  the  not  too  well- 
equipped  home ;  and  I  know  that  periodically 
they  have  been  carefully  taken  out,  smoothed 
and  conned  over,  while  dear  old  memories  have 
been  revived  and  discussed.  Once,  knowing 
that  I  set  store  by  such  things,  a  broken-down 
old  workman,  with  trembling  hands,  took  out 
his  little  bundle,  and  begged  me  to  keep  it. 
"  I've  never  been  able  to  afford  pictures,"  said 
he,  "but  my  playbills  has  been  pictures  to  me 
ever  since  I  can  remember.  Take  'em,  sir,  and 
look  after  'em  when  I'm  gone.  I  shouldn't  like 
'em  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  any  one  as  wouldn't 
valley  'em  at  their  right  price." 

Pictures  in  the  way  of  photographs  and 
cuttings  from  the  illustrated  papers  may  also 
be  collected  nowadays,  and  these,  either  set  in 
cheap  frames  or  pinned  to  the  walls,  decorate 
the  town  working-man's  house.  And  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  among  such  cherished 
playbills  and  portraits  none  are  so  popular  as 
those  which  deal  with  the  well-loved  name  of 
"  Kendal."  I  might  quote  many  instances  of 
the  value  set  upon  these  little  hoards,  and  I 
think  one  and  all  would  read  the  actor  the 
pleasant  lesson  that,  in  common  with  the  poet. 


"ON   THE    WING''  115 

writer,  sculptor,  painter,  composer,  and  musician, 
he  cftn  never  know  how  much  his  accompHshed 
work  is  appreciated,  the  amount  of  good  it  does, 
the  never-to-be-forgotten  pleasure  it  affords. 

Not  very  long  ago  I  was  reading  of  a  young 
poet  who  was  gazing  at  a  famous  monument  in 
one  of  our  noble  English  abbey  churches.  His 
first  little  volume  of  verse  (said  the  author)  had 
just  been  published,  and  he  had  a  smartly  bound 
copy  of  it  in  his  pocket.  The  day  before  he  had 
been  very,  very  proud  of  it ;  but  that  morning's 
post  had  brought  him  a  newspaper  in  which  a 
critic  had  thought  fit  to  tear  his  poor  work  to 
shreds,  to  lay  its  faults  bare,  to  pass  over  its 
merits,  and  generally  to  hold  it  up  to  ridicule. 
For  the  time  being  all  the  joy  had  gone  out  of 
that  young  writer's  life.  He  fancied  that  every 
one  in  the  church  had  a  copy  of  that  newspaper 
in  his  pocket,  and  knew  (what  he  now  considered 
to  be)  his  shame.  As  a  matter  of  fact  no  one 
there  had  seen  the  newspaper ;  but  he  was  sore, 
and  he  wished  that  his  poor  little  book  could  be 
drowned  as  deep  as  Prospero's.  Now,  while  this 
half  heart-broken  young  poet  stood  with  blurred 
eyes  gazing  at  the  monument  there  was  by  his 
side  a  young  and  sweet-faced  woman  dressed  in 
deep  mourning.     Poor  thing  !     She  was  not  a 


116  THE  KENDALS 

critic,  but,  within  a  few  weeks  after  she  had 
become  a  happy  and  hopeful  wife,  a  sorrowing 
widow.  It  so  happened  that  a  friend  had  given 
her  the  little  book  of  poems,  and  some  of  the 
verses  had  touched  and  consoled  her  at  the 
right  moment,  and  in  a  manner  beyond  descrip- 
tion ;  and  so  it  came  about  that  while  the  poet's 
eyes  welled  over  with  mortification,  hers  swam 
with  gratitude  to  the  unknown  author  who  had 
so  soothed  and  helped  her.  "  If  I  could  only 
know  him,  talk  to  him,  and  thank  him!  "  she 
was  saying  to  herself  ;  while  he  was  murmuring, 
"I  have  mistaken  my  vocation;  I  am  a  vain 
fool ;  I  have  fruitlessly  squandered  my  time." 
There  they  were,  side  by  side.  He  had  com- 
forted her  without  knowing  it ;  it  was  unlikely 
they  would  ever  meet  again ;  but  surely  here 
was  a  proof  that  work  well  meant  and  honestly 
done  is  never  thrown  away,  though  those  who 
do  it  may  be  the  last  to  know  it. 

As  it  was  with  that  young  poet,  so  it  is  with 
the  sensitive  actor — and  when  I  say  actor  I  of 
course  mean  actress  too — prone  to  smart  under 
the  lash  of  criticism,  the  lash  which,  after  all,  is 
courted  by  all  who  voluntarily  come  before  the 
public.  Even  though  it  may  not  be  perfect, 
honest   endeavour   is   sure   to   leave    its   marks 


"  ON  THE   WING"  117 

behind  it ;  and  these  cherished  playbills  and 
cheap  portraits,  bearing  the  imprint  of  toil- 
stained  fingers,  are  so  many  witnesses  in  its 
favour.  The  artisan  in  pit  or  gallery  and  the 
actor  on  the  stage  are  milikely  to  "rub  shoulders  " 
in  the  world ;  but  the  one  never  forgets  the 
gleam  of  romance  that  the  other  has  shed  across 
the  dull  pathway  of  his  life.  The  Kendals  have 
achieved  many  great  things,  but  one  of  their 
chief  prides  should  be  the  affectionate  regard  in 
which,  thanks  to  their  consummate  art,  they 
have  been  held  in  the  English  provinces  since 
their  first  independent  tour  in  1874. 

Mr.  Clement  Scott  has  told  us  how  the 
English  stage  version  of  "Dora"  was  written. 
Eemembering  the  great  success  they  had  helped 
to  make  for  him  in  "Peril,"  Mr.  Bancroft  had 
naturally  asked  Mr.  Scott  and  Mr.  Stephenson 
to  undertake  the  adaptation  of  his  new  purchase, 
and,  shortly  after  it  had  been  concluded,  the 
three  went  to  Paris  to  judge  how  it  had  best 
be  done.  As  Mr.  Scott  points  out,  the  task 
presented  tremendous  difficulties.  In  common 
with  most  French  plays,  it  was  far  too  long  for 
English  audiences;  there  were  some  things  in  it 
that  would  be  objectionable  to  them  (we  were 
far   more  sensitive   in  those  days  than  we  are 


118  THE  KENDALS 

now!),  and  there  were  many  things  in  it  that 
they  would  not  understand.  In  spite  of  the 
immense  "grip"  of  its  situations  and  the 
cleverness  of  its  character-drawing,  a  mere 
translation  of  the  great  Parisian  "  Dora  "  would 
probably  have  been  a  fiasco  in  London.  Some 
new  motive  must  be  found.  The  question  was, 
"What  should  it  be?  "  Well,  it  was  just  at  this 
time  that  every  one  was  singing — 

"  We  don't  want  to  fight, 
But  by  Jingo  if  we  do  !  " 

which,  by  the  way,  I  came  across  in  Paris  as — 

"  Nous  ne  voulons  pas  la  guerre, 
Mais  par  Dieu  si  nous  combattons !  " 

and  thought  that  Dieu  for  Jingo  was  a  decidedly 

free    adaptation,    and but   Mr.   Scott   will 

permit  me  to  quote  his  own  words. 

"  Time  and  opportunity  served  us,"  he  says. 
"England  just  at  that  time  was  in  the  thick  of 
the  Eastern  Question.  No  one  knew  whether 
we  should  or  should  not  help  the  Turk  against 
the  Eussian.  Prejudices  were  divided,  and 
Eastern  politics  were  discussed  in  every  news- 
paper. An  official  despatch  of  importance  had 
to  be  stolen,  and  an  interest  given  it  that  would 


"ON   THE   WING"  119 

appeal  to  English  sentiment  generally,  and 
particularly  to  English  soldiers.  Although  it 
is  so  long  ago,  I  think  that  I  can  apportion 
equally  the  credit— if,  indeed,  it  is  a  credit — of 
the  various  alterations  that  turned  Sardou's  play 
into  a  brilliant  success  instead  of  a  failure,  as  it 
must  have  been  had  it  been  translated  and  its 
motive  matter  unchanged,  as  its  author  pretended 
to  desire.  First  of  all,  Bancroft  cracked  the  first 
difficult  nut  by  suggesting  that  the  two  leading 
male  characters  in  the  play  should  be  brothers. 
He  saw  at  the  outset  the  value  of  the  brothers 
Beauclerc.  It  was  an  invaluable  suggestion. 
Stephenson,  who  had  been  in  a  Government  office 
for  years — and  so  had  I,  for  the  matter  of  that 
— and  as  a  Private  Secretary  knew  all  the  inner 
workings  of  the  Foreign  Office  and  diplomacy 
generally,  was  bent  upon  forcing  an  ofiicial  tone 
into  the  play.  Bancroft  was  all  for  soldiers, 
Stephenson  was  all  for  Government  office.  It 
must  be  a  combination  of  War  Office  and  Foreign 
Office.  At  last  it  struck  me  in  a  mysterious 
way — the  Eastern  Question,  of  course  !  I  was  a 
fierce  Jingo  at  the  time,  and  I  believe  it  was 
'  Jingoism ' — that  is  to  say,  the  Beaconsfield 
policy — that  gave  the  play  its  first  interest  so  far 
as  England  was  concerned.     When  that  random 


120  THE  EENDALS 

shot  was  fired  by  the  Eastern  Question  the  diffi- 
culties melted  away  like  snow.  Bancroft  got  his 
soldiers,  Stephenson  got  his  diplomatic  tone,  I 
got  my  Jingoism." 

Under  these  happy  conditions  the  play  was 
written  and  produced,  and  "Diplomacy,"  as  in 
its  EngHsh  dress  it  was  called,  proved  one  of  the 
greatest  victories  of  the  famous  Bancroft  regime. 
I  wonder  if  that  Eastern  Question  had  really  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  its  success  ?  I  know  that 
when  a  few  years  ago  the  piece  was  revived  by 
Mr.  Hare  it  interested  me  as  much  as  ever,  and 
delighted  younger  folk  who  had  never  heard  of 
the  Jingo  days  of  1878.  And  yet  all  around  me 
were  people  who  told  me  that  it  was  hopelessly 
"  old-fashioned,"  and  that  I  was  wrong  to  enjoy 
and  praise  it.  But  they  were  people  who  had 
"  seen  it  before,"  and  were  therefore  well 
equipped  to  pose  as  keen  dramatic  critics. 

The  perfect  way  in  which  it  was  acted  did 
much  to  secure  the  triumph  of  "  Diplomacy," 
and  every  member  of  an  admirable  company 
seemed  well  placed.  But  I  am  not  saying  too 
much  when  I  assert  that  the  Kendals  bore  away 
the  palms.  In  the  arduous  and  sympathetic 
part  of  Dora  Mrs.  Kendal,  of  course,  had  the 
great  part  of  the  play,  and  right  well  she  availed 


"ON  THE   WING"  121 

herself  of  her  opportunity;  and,  to  quote  Mr. 
Joseph  Knight,  "Mr.  Kendal  revealed  as  Captain 
Beauclerc,  the  hero,  an  amount  of  force  that  he 
has  not  previously  displayed,  and  carried  off  the 
honours  of  the  evening." 

"  The  cast,"  says  Mr.  William  Archer,  "  was 
perhaps  the  strongest  on  record  in  the  annals  of 
the  contemporary  stage.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal 
played  the  hero  and  heroine  (Julian  Beauclerc 
and  Dora),  Mr.  Bancroft  played  Orloff,  Mrs. 
Bancroft  the  Countess  Zicka,  Mr.  John  Clayton 
Harry  Beauclerc,  and  Mr.  Arthur  Cecil  Baron 
Stein.  Thus,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Hare, 
all  the  leading  figures  of  our  modern  school  of 
comedy  appeared  on  the  same  stage,  and  the 
result  was  an  almost  unprecedented  success,  the 
crowning  glory  of  the  Bancroft  management." 

It  was  with  this  brilliant  production  that  the 
Kendals'  association  with  the  Bancrofts  and  the 
Prince  of  Wales's  Theatre  ceased,  for  Mr.  Hare 
wanted  them  to  return  to  his  theatrical  home  in 
Chelsea,  and  they  did  not  resist  his  appeal. 

Accordingly,  in  1879  we  find  them  once  more 
at  the  Court  Theatre  revelling  in  a  revival  of 
"A  Scrap  of  Paper,"  From  the  serious  earnest- 
ness of  Julian  and  Dora  to  the  laughter-moving 
repartee    and   intrigue   of    Colonel    Blake   and 


122  THE  KENDALS 

Susan  Hartley  was  a  far  cry,  but  the  Kendals 
quickly  proved  that  the  long  run  of  "Diplomacy" 
had  left  no  jar  in  their  comedy  notes,  and  the 
former  success  was  repeated. 

By  the  way,  I  should  have  mentioned  that  in 
the  autilmn  of  1878  they  had  taken  "  Diplomacy  " 
on  tour,  so  that  they  had  practically  played  the 
same  arduous  parts  for  twelve  months.  The 
company  supporting  them  was  an  excellent  one 
(that  clever  actor  Mr.  Mackintosh,  then  just 
coming  to  the  front,  made  a  great  hit  as  Baron 
Stein),  and  the  popularity  of  play  and  players 
was  unbounded. 

It  was  while  the  revived  "Scrap  of  Paper" 
was  still  running  at  the  Court  that,  at  a  tentative 
afternoon  performance — matinees  were  compara- 
tively rare  events  in  those  days — T.  W.  Eobert- 
son's  adaptation  of  the  comedy  of  Scribe  and 
Legouve,  "  Bataille  des  Dames,"  entitled  "  The 
Ladies'  Battle,"  was  produced.  It  is  rather 
curious  to  note  how  few  were  the  characters  in 
her  distinguished  brother's  plays  that  fell  to  the 
lot  of  Mrs.  Kendal.  She  had  "  created "  his 
Lady  Clara  Vere  de  Vere  in  "Dreams";  she 
had  appeared  in  Hull  in  his  adaptation  called 
"Passion  Flowers,"  and  now  she  undertook  his 
Countess  d'Autreval — but  that  was  all.     "  The 


Pluito  by] 


MH.    KKNDAL    IN    "A    SCIUl'    OF 


"ON  THE   WING"  123 

Ladies'  Battle  "  is  one  of  the  works  which,  before 
he  had  made  his  mark,  Robertson  translated  and 
adapted  for  speculators  at  a  price,  it  is  said,  of 
something  like  ten  shillings  an  act.  Poor  fellow  ! 
If  he  had  only  lived  to  see  his  tenderly  written 
and  hitherto  misunderstood  work  acted  in  the 
days  of  1879  at  the  Court  Theatre  !  It  was  most 
beautifully  mounted  and  costumed.  To  produce 
a  play  with  absolute  devotion  to  detail  has  ever 
been  a  delight  to  Mr.  Hare  ;  no  doubt  the  keenly 
artistic  eye  of  Mr.  Kendal  was  of  great  service ; 
and  the  audiences  for  the  time  being  seemed 
to  live  in  and  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  the 
picturesque  (if  unsatisfactory)  days  of  Louis 
XVIII.  of  France.  As  the  heroine — the  femme 
de  trente  ans — of  this  delightful  play  Mrs.  Kendal 
acted  with  a  distinction  that  gave  just  the  right 
tone  to  the  story,  and  in  the  moment  of  her 
bitter  but  bravely  borne  disappointment  deeply 
touched  her  hearers.  Mr.  Kendal's  powers  as  a 
comedian  found  full  scope  in  the  extravagantly 
drawn  character  of  Gustave  de  Grignon ;  and  Mr. 
Hare  as  the  chameleon-like  Prefet  Montrichard 
gave  one  of  his  best  performances.  No  wonder 
that  the  fortunes  of  the  little  Court  Theatre 
were  at  high- water  mark. 

Astute  actors  and  managers,  who  know  how 


124  THE  RENDALS 

difficult  it  is  to  secure  good  new  plays,  keep  a 
watchful  eye  on  the  old  ones  that  have  been 
popular,  and  which  are  capable  of  being  adapted 
to  modern  tastes.  In  this  way  Mr.  Kendal 
turned  his  attention  to  the  old  French  comedy, 
or  vaudeville  (for  in  its  original  form  it  was  little 
more  than  that)  "  Un  Fils  de  Famille."  Two 
English  versions  of  this  work  had  been  produced, 
and  both  in  1853,  when  Charles  Kean  had  staged 
"  The  Lancers,"  or  "  The  Gentleman's  Son,"  at 
the  Princess's  ;  and  Benjamin  Webster  had 
brought  out  "The  Discarded  Son"  at  the 
Adelphi.  Surely  a  piece  that  had  attracted  two 
such  managers  was  worthy  of  a  revival,  even 
though  it  had  to  be  rewritten  ?  Eewritten  it 
had  to  be,  and,  as  it  is  one  of  the  charms  of  Mr. 
Kendal's  character  that  he  never  forgets  old 
friends,  we  find  the  name  of  Mr.  G.  W.  Godfrey 
(of  "  Queen  Mab "  and  the  Haymarket  days) 
announced  as  the  adapter  of  "  The  Queen's 
Shilling  "  on  its  production  at  the  Court  Theatre 
in  1879. 

Another  signal  success  was  immediately 
secured.  Old  playgoers  who  remembered  the 
adaptations,  or  translations,  of  1853  were  par- 
ticularly struck  with  the  refinement  of  the  pro- 
duction ;  and  younger  ones  voted  the  story  and 


"ON  THE   WING"  125 

the  characters  delightful.  From  that  day  to 
this  the  parts  of  the  dashing  and  heroic  young 
lancer  and  the  charming  girl  heiress,  who  for  a 
time  has  to  masquerade  as  the  fascinating  bar- 
maid of  a  country  alehouse,  have  been  favourite 
ones  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal,  and  only  a  year 
or  two  ago  I  saw  them  playing  them  as  brightly 
and  well  as  ever.  Mr.  Hare,  too,  was  particularly 
well  suited  as  the  irascible  Colonel,  and  those 
who  remember  the  scene  at  the  piano  in  which 
he  joined  w^th  the  Kendals  in  the  refrain  com- 
mencing— 

"  Speak  to  me,  love,  and  with  thy  glances," 

and  continually  broke  down,  w^hile  Mrs.  Kendal 
endeavoured  to  keep  peace  between  the  two 
quarrelsome  men,  will  agree  with  me  that  they 
then  saw  pure  modern  English  comedy  at  its 
brightest  and  its  best. 

On  July  19,  1879,  Mr.  Hare  said  goodbye  to 
the  little  Chelsea  house,  and  in  the  following 
words,  and  to  an  enthusiastic  audience,  announced 
his  forthcoming  partnership  with  Mr.  Kendal  in 
the  management  of  the  St.  James's  Theatre. 

"  Union  is  strength,"  he  said,  *'  and  I  feel  that 
in  associating  myself  with  an  admirable  man  of 
business  and  a  most  able  artist,  and  at  the  same 


126  THE  KENDALS 

time  gaining  the  permanent  services  of  his 
accomplished  wife,  there  seems  a  reasonable 
hope  of  conducting  successfully  a  theatre  which 
up  to  the  present  time  has  laboured  under  the 
stigma  of  being  unfortunate.  I  assure  you  we 
shall  work  our  hardest  to  remove  its  ill-luck,  and 
that  it  will  be  through  no  lack  of  endeavour  on 
our  part  if  we  fail.  I  may  tell  you  that  our 
plan  of  campaign  will  be  similar  to  the  one 
adopted  by  me  here.  Comedy  and  comedy- 
drama  will  form  the  staple  of  our  dramatic  fare, 
and  we  shall  endeavour  to  get  the  best  company 
together,  with  a  view  to  giving  that  which  is 
always,  I  take  it,  the  most  satisfactory  thing  to 
an  audience — an  even,  all-round  performance." 


CHAPTEK    VI 

ST.    JAMES'S    THEATRE,  1879-1884 

IN  the  early  autumn  of  1879  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kendal — now  accompanied  for  the  first  time 
by  Mr.  Hare — went  on  their  annual  provincial 
tour,  and  on  October  4th  of  the  same  year  the 
partners  opened  the  reconstructed  and  redeco- 
rated St.  James's  Theatre.  It  was  certainly  the 
handsomest  and  most  luxurious  playhouse  then 
to  be  seen  in  London.  Both  before  and  behind 
the  curtain  everything  was  done  to  promote  the 
comfort  of  the  audiences  and  those  engaged  to 
amuse  them.  Everywhere  the  most  exquisite 
taste  was  in  evidence :  pictures  adorned  the 
artistically  decorated  walls  ;  well-printed  pro- 
grammes on  conveniently  sized  cards  were  placed 
on  the  soft  and  richly  coloured  seats  of  the  audi- 
torium ;  cheerful-looking  and  obHging  attendants 
were  ready  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  the  visitors  ; 
and  the  w^hole  place  seemed  to  look  more  like  a 


128  THE  KENDALS 

well-appointed  and  carefully  kept  house  than  a 
theatre.  It  was,  indeed,  apparent  that  the  new 
managers  had  quite  enough  faith  in  their  venture 
to  "back"  it  with  lavish,  but  by  no  means 
injudicious,  expenditure. 

For  the  opening  programme  nothing  was 
wanted  but  "  The  Queen's  Shilling,"  still  in  the 
heyday  of  its  first  success,  but  this  was  supple- 
mented by  an  attractive  little  costume  play  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Yal  Prinsep,  entitled  "  Monsieur 
le  Due,"  in  which  Mr.  Hare  figured  picturesquely 
as  the  libertine,  but  not  wholly  bad-hearted.  Due 
de  Eichelieu. 

An  opportunity  soon  came  in  the  way  of  the 
new  management  that  was  not  to  be  lost.  The 
strong  (one  might  almost  say  the  strange)  desire 
of  Lord  Tennyson  (he  was  Alfred  Tennyson  in 
1879)  to  write  for  the  stage  is  now  a  matter  of 
history.  In  those  days  it  was  in  its  infancy, 
and,  detecting  manifold  beauties  in  "  The 
Falcon,"  and  naturally  feeling  proud  to  have 
the  Laureate's  name  on  their  programmes,  Mr. 
Hare  and  Mr.  Kendal  willingly  undertook  to 
comply  with  his  desire  and  produce  it.  The 
piece,  which  was  founded  on  a  story  in  "The 
Decameron"  of  Boccaccio,  did  not  present  any- 
thing striking  from  a   dramatic  point  of  view, 


ST.   JABIES'S   THEATRE,    1879-1884  129 

but  it  lent  itself  well  to  stage  setting,  and  it  was 
certain  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  would  not 
only  be  exceedingly  picturesque  as  the  Count 
Alberighi  and  the  Lady  Giovanna,  but  would 
deliver  the  poet's  lines  in  the  way  he  would 
have  them  spoken.  Accordingly,  on  December 
18th  this  unique  play-poem  was  produced,  and 
though  it  was  never  expected  that  it  would 
prove  popular  with  the  masses,  it  scored  far 
more  than  the  mere  siicces  cVestime.  The  staging 
of  the  piece  was  remarkably  beautiful,  and  while 
the  cultured  ear  listened  lovingly  to  the  sweet 
flow  of  verse  the  eye  rested  on  a  feast  of  colour. 
With  his  handsome  "peregrine"  on  his  fist,  and 
a  picture  in  make-up  and  costume,  Mr.  Kendal 
was  a  manly  representative  of  the  falconer  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  very  effectively  sang  a  plaintive 
ditty,  playing  an  accompaniment  upon  the  guitar. 
Mrs.  Kendal,  clad  like  the  morning  in  a  mantle 
of  golden  russet,  was  the  beautiful  and  stately 
Italian  Lady  Monna  Giovanna  to  the  life. 

The  play  was  certainly  the  occasion  for  dis- 
playing with  singular  clearness  the  delicate  as 
well  as  forcible  talent  of  the  actress.  There  was 
the  more  need  for  an  artist  skilled  in  rendering 
the  softer  emotions  since  Monna  Giovanna, 
magnificent  in  her  queenly  robes,  is  an  all  too 
10 


130  TEE  KENDALS 

stately  dame  to  move  ordinary  hmnan  hearts  to 
their  innermost  depths.  Indeed,  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  in  less  skilful  hands  the 
Italian  lady,  as  drawn  for  the  stage,  would 
have  inspired  sympathy.  The  trouble  of  the 
cast  was  the  noble-looking,  great-eyed,  and  soft- 
plumaged  peregrine -falcon.  Mr.  Kendal  had 
taken  great  pains  in  procuring  and  taming  the 
bird,  and  at  home  he  was  docile  enough,  but  he 
was  not  "  stage-struck,"  and  resented  the  foot- 
lights in  a  way  that  was  painful  to  the  wrist  that 
bore  him.  The  poor  creature  died  during  the 
run  of  the  play,  and  to-day,  under  a  glass-case, 
stands  as  a  sad  (but  very  handsome)  example  of 
those  who  are  forced  to  follow  a  profession  for 
which  they  have  no  aptitude. 

With  their  past  provincial  experiences  in  full 
view  the  Kendals  ever  had  in  mind  the  old  plays 
that  (whatever  their  merits  or  demerits  might 
be)  were  sure  to  draw  audiences,  and  no  doubt 
they  induced  Mr.  Hare  to  revive  Tom  Taylor's 
perennial  comedy,  "  Still  Waters  Kun  Deep." 
If  they  were  instrumental  in  persuading  him  to 
play  the  part  of  old  Potter,  they  did  him  a  good 
turn,  for  a  rarer  and  more  humorous  study  of 
an  eccentric  character  had  never  been  seen. 

The  piece  had,  so  far,  never  had  such  a  good 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATBE,   1879-1884  131 

chance,  and  right  well  it  responded  to  the  call. 
Mr.  Kendal  was  an  ideal  John  Mildmay,  the 
apparently  placid,  nonchalant  man,  with  the 
undercurrent  of  British  discernment  and  pluck, 
suiting  him  to  perfection  ;  and,  though  to  my 
mind  the  part  was  unworthy  of  her,  Mrs.  Kendal 
made  her  mark  as  Mrs.  Sternhold. 

When  I  was  writing  my  book  on  Mr.  Hare  he 
told  me  a  curious  story  respecting  this  revival  of 
"  Still  Waters  Eun  Deep,"  and  I  then  made  use 
of  it,  but  as  it  affects  Mrs.  Kendal  (she  has  often 
told  it  to  me),  and  shows  how  she  and  her  stage 
companion,  by  wonderful  presence  of  mind  and 
force  of  wall,  exercised  in  the  right  way  and  at 
the  right  moment,  averted  serious  calamity,  I 
am  bound  to  say  something  about  it  here.  The 
St.  James's  Company,  on  one  of  their  annual 
provincial  tours,  w^ere  playing  the  piece  at  the 
Prince  of  Wales's  Theatre,  Liverpool,  to  an 
almost  uncomfortably  packed  house.  In  those 
days  precautions  against  fire  and  its  grim 
attendant  panic  were  not  so  rigidly  enforced 
as  they  are  now,  and  to  make  room  for  the 
overwhelming  audience  the  orchestra  had  been 
banished  to  the  regions  below  the  stage,  and  all 
the  gangways  were  blocked  with  chairs.  Under 
such   conditions   anything   in   the   nature  of   a 


132  THE  KENDALS 

scare  would  be  attended  by  ghastly  consequences. 
Now,  those  who  are  familiar  with  "  Still  Waters 
Eun  Deep"  will  remember  that  when  the  curtain 
rises  on  the  first  act  all  the  principal  characters 
are  discovered.  John  Mildmay,  Mrs.  Mildmay, 
and  Mrs.  Sternhold  are  in  the  foreground  of  the 
picture,  and  old  Potter  is  seated  at  the  back, 
half  dozing  by  the  fireside,  with  his  preposterous 
old-fashioned  pocket-handkerchief  thrown  over 
his  head  and  face,  and  with  his  back  to  the 
audience.  To  suggest  a  bright  fire  in  the  grate 
a  lighted  lamp  was  used,  and  through  the  thin 
silk  of  his  handkerchief  Mr.  Hare,  to  his  intense 
horror,  saw  that  the  too  highly  turned-up  flame 
had  ignited  that  part  of  the  flimsy  scene  painted 
to  represent  the  mantelpiece,  and  that  slowly  but 
surely  the  smouldering  fire  was  increasing.  By 
good  fortune  he  had  once  been  a  member  of  the 
stock  company  at  this  theatre,  and  so  knew  his 
bearings  well.  But,  alas  !  he  also  knew  that  in 
case  of  a  fire  breaking  out  on  a  crowded  night 
(the  house  has  long  since  been  altered)  it  would 
prove  a  veritable  death-trap.  He  realised,  too, 
that  if  the  audience  saw  the  steadily  growing 
flames  a  panic  with  its  awful  results  would  ensue. 
Happily  some  moments  had  to  elapse  before  he 
would   be  expected  to  respond  to  his  cue,  and 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATRE,   1879-1884  133 

slowly  rising,  and  in  the  slipshod,  senile 
manner  he  assumed  in  portraying  this  character, 
he  shuffled  off  the  stage.  His  comic  exit  caused 
roars  of  laughter,  but  it  Avas  not  accomplished 
before,  in  some  subtle  way,  he  had  contrived  to 
convey  to  Mrs.  Kendal  its  cause.  Then  she, 
like  the  brave,  quick  woman  that  she  is,  calmly 
took  her  stand  before  the  fireplace,  and  with  her 
skirts  hid  the  burning  scenery  from  the  audience. 
Behind  the  scenes,  and  not  without  danger  and 
difficulty,  Mr.  Hare,  assisted  by  a  carpenter  and 
wet  blankets  (and  with  Mrs.  Kendal  continuing 
her  part,  and  resolutely  shielding  their  operations) 
contrived  to  extinguish  the  conflagration,  and 
then,  shambling  on  to  the  stage  again,  was 
greeted  by  the  nobly  self-possessed  Mrs.  Stern- 
hold  with,  "Well,  brother  Potter,  and  where 
have  7J0U  been  ?  "  They  laughed,  and  so  did 
the  audience,  little  knowing  that  through  the 
courage  and  presence  of  mind  of  their  enter- 
tainers they  had  mercifully  escaped  a  terrible 
catastrophe. 

At  the  St.  James's  "  Still  Waters  Eun  Deep  " 
was  in  due  course  succeeded  by  a  welcome  revival 
of  "The  Ladies'  Battle,"  supplemented  by  the 
farce  of  "A  Regular  Fix,"  in  which  Mr.  Kendal 
(always  good  in  a  rolhcking  comedy  part)  greatly 


134  THE  KENDALS 

distinguished  himself  as  Sir  Hugh  de  Brass,  a 
character  previously  made  famous  by  Charles 
Mathews  and  E.  A.  Sothern. 
•  There  was — or  seemed  to  be — a  dearth  of 
English  dramatists  at  that  time,  and  again  the 
management  looked  up  old  material.  Douglas 
Jerrold's  breezy  nautical  play,  "Black-Eyed 
Susan,"  with  its  absorbing  story  and  its  distinct 
characterisation,  had  always  been  a  favourite 
one  ;  long  before  they  met  each  other  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Kendal  had  been  popular  as  the  brave 
sailor  William  and  Susan  his  faithful  wife  ;  in 
their  early  married  days  they  had  been  cordially 
welcomed  in  those  characters  in  the  provinces  ; 
why  not  a  revival  of  such  an  established  success  ? 
But  would,  they  had  to  ask  themselves,  the  play 
in  its  existing  form,  with  its  old-fashioned 
"front  scenes"  and  its  somewhat  highly 
coloured  dialogue,  prove  attractive  to  the  West 
End  audiences  catered  for  at  the  St.  James's  ? 
This  seemed  doubtful ;  but  why  should  not  Mr. 
W.  G.  Wills  (then  at  the  zenith  of  his  fame)  be 
asked  to  do  for  the  Kendals  with  Douglas 
Jerrold  what  he  had  done  with  Lord  Lytton 
for  Henry  Irving,  and  Ohver  Goldsmith  for  John 
Hare?  Why  should  he  not  from  another 
classic  produce  a  play  that,  while  retaining  all 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1879-1884  135 

the   main  features  of  its  original,  would  prove 
acceptable  to  modern  West  End  audiences  ? 

Mr.  Wills  undertook  the  task,  and  he  per- 
formed it  well,  but,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
some  of  the  older  critics  fell  foul  of  the  whole 
scheme,  the  outspoken  Mr.  Button  Cook  going 
so  far  as  to  say :  "Certain  critics  have  described 
Mr.  Wills's  '  William  and  Susan  '  as  a  '  rehabili- 
tation' of  Douglas  Jerrold's  'Black-Eyed  Susan.' 
Is  that  sufferer  'rehabilitated'  who,  unnecessarily 
operated  upon,  and  deprived  of  his  more 
important  limbs  and  organs,  succeeds  in  escaping 
from  the  ruthless  hands  of  his  surgeon  and 
dissector  and  tormentor  ?  Art,  it  is  true,  may 
have  supplied  the  unhappy  patient  with 
mechanical  in  lieu  of  his  natural  members,  with 
eyes  of  glass  and  toes  of  cork  ;  but,  nevertheless, 
he  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  sound  and  entire, 
thoroughly  his  ow^n  man  again — '  rehabilitated  ' 
in  the  legal  sense  of  the  w^ord,  reinstated  in  the 
rights  of  which  a  judicial  sentence  had  dispos- 
sessed him.  '  William  and  Susan '  at  the  St. 
James's  is  not  an  old  play  revived,  with  certain 
transpositions  and  omissions  justified  and  ren- 
dered expedient  by  lapse  of  time  or  change  of 
taste.  Mr.  Wills,  while  professing  to  found  his 
drama  upon  'Black-Eyed  Susan,'  has,  in  fact. 


136  THE  KENDALS 

totally  sunk  and  destroyed  two  out  of  Douglas 
Jerrold's  three  acts.  The  management  pleads 
that  Mr.  Blanchard  Jerrold,  the  dramatist's  son, 
has  sanctioned  Mr.  Wills's  proceeding.  I  cannot 
think  that  in  the  circumstances  Mr.  Blanchard 
Jerrold's  sanction  of  that  he  was  powerless  to 
prevent  is  of  the  shghtest  value.  Would  Gibber 
and  Tate  and  other  adaptors  and  mutilators  of 
Shakespeare,  have  occupied  a  better  position  in 
the  judgment  of  the  world  had  their  cobblings 
and  tinkerings  received  the  sanction  of  the  poet's 
descendants  ?  Yet  the  critics  who  censure 
Gibber  applaud  Mr.  Wills.  It  may  be  said  that 
a  melodrama  by  Douglas  Jerrold  is  not  to  be 
classed  with  the  plays  of  Shakespeare.  Yet  the 
same  principle  is  involved,  let  the  author's  name 
be  Shakespeare,  or  Jerrold,  or,  as  Mr.  Sergeant 
Buzfuz  would  add,  '  Pickwick,  or  Noakes,  or 
Stoakes,  or  Stiles,  or  Brown,  or  Tompson.' 
How,  for  instance,  would  Mr.  Wills  like  his 
'Gharles  the  First'  to  be  revised  and  retrenched, 
altered  and  added  to,  by  Messrs.  Merritt  and 
Pettitt,  let  me  say  ?  though  I  design  no  offence 
to  those  dramatists  in,  for  a  moment,  availing 
myself  of  their  names." 

But   the    judgment   of    Mr.    Hare    and    Mr. 
Kendal  was  right.     To  have  given  the  original 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATBE,  1879-1884  137 

"Black-Eyed  Susan"  to  the  St.  James's  playgoers 
would  have  been  a  mistake,  as  great  a  mistake 
as  it  would  have  been  to  have  withheld  them 
from  an  introduction  to  William  and  his  sweet 
consort  as  impersonated  by  the  Kendals.  Once 
more  the  managers  put  their  hearts  into  their 
work,  and  the  stage  pictures  of  Susan's  cottage, 
the  beach  at  Deal,  with  the  fleet  in  the  Downs, 
the  cabin  of  the  man-of-war,  and  the  deck  of  the 
same  vessel,  called  forth  universal  admiration. 
Every  tiny  detail  had  attention,  and  the  costumes 
and  coiffures  were  correct,  from  the  silk  stockings 
and  knee-breeches  of  the  naval  officers  to  the 
pigtails  of  the  bluejackets  of  the  early  part  of 
this  century.  It  was  impossible  that  such  a 
beautiful  production  could  fail  to  excite  interest 
and  create  sympathy.  If  it  had  a  fault  (and 
this,  surely,  was  no  artistic  fault)  it  was  its 
overwhelming  pathos.  Into  the  last  act,  when 
William  is  under  the  death  sentence,  Mr.  Wills 
had  written  in  beautiful  yet  simple  language  a 
prayer  for  Susan,  which  was  the  most  heart- 
rending thing  I  ever  heard  on  the  stage.  Mrs. 
Kendal  seemed  to  put  her  very  soul  into  it,  and 
awed  her  audiences  into  sympathetic  silence. 
All  who  heard  it  admired  and  marvelled,  but  it 
was  too  affectino-  and  hauntino-  to  be  listened  to 


138  THE  KENDALS 

many  times.  And  yet  those  who  heard  it  love 
in  quiet  moments  to  recall  it,  and  are  all  the 
better  for  its  memory. 

By  and  by  there  had  to  be  another  dive  into  the 
pigeon-holes  of  the  theatrical  library,  and  it  was 
decided  to  commission  Mr.  Charles  Coghlan 
to  prepare  yet  another  stage  version  of  M. 
Octave  Feuillet's  famous  French  novel,  "  Le 
Eoman  d'un  Jeune  Homme  Pauvre."  As  we 
have  seen,  in  one  of  these,  "A  Hero  of 
Eomance,"  Mrs.  Kendal  had  in  earlier  days 
appeared  with  Sothern  at  the  Haymarket.  It 
seemed  certain  that  with  such  a  popular  subject, 
and  such  a  clever  writer  to  deal  with  it,  un- 
qualified success  w^ould  be  secured,  and  yet, 
oddly  enough,  ''Good  Fortune,"  as  Mr.  Coghlan's 
adaptation  was  called,  proved  the  least  attractive 
venture  of  the  Hare  and  Kendal  partnership. 
As  the  piece  was  perfectly  acted,  and  the 
favourite  old  story  was  admirably  set  forth,  it 
is  hard  to  say  why.  The  fickle  public  seemed 
to  have  tired  of  M.  Octave  Feuillet's  romance, 
and  their  verdict  had  to  be  accepted. 

Where  author  and  artists  have  all  done  their 
best  there  is  nothing  more  melancholy  than  a 
theatrical  failure,  and  no  doubt  Mrs.  Kendal 
had  this  on  her  mind  when  she  once  said :  "May 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1879-1884  139 

I  illustrate  the  feeling  of  an  artist  with  regard  to 
his  or  her  part  by  a  bold  but  homely  figure  ? 
When  the  curtain  rises  on  the  first  night  of  a 
production  the  play  and  all  about  it  are  quite 
new  to  the  audience ;  but  the  artist  has  lived 
with  it  for  weeks,  perhaps  months.  A  mother 
lost  her  baby  once  when  it  was  but  six  weeks 
old,  and  when  she  grieved  deeply  and  for  a  long 
time  her  husband  remonstrated  with  her  and 
said,  '  Why  grieve  over  a  child  that  was  but  six 
weeks  with  us  ?  '  '  Ah,'  she  rephed,  '  you  forget 
that  it  was  much  longer  than  six  weeks  with 
me.'  " 

Let  me,  for  a  moment,  continue  to  quote  Mrs. 
Kendal : — 

"The  true  actor,"  she  says,  "consciously  or 
unconsciously,  carries  his  art  along  with  him. 
If  I  go  out  to  a  reception  I  am  at  work — often 
unknown  to  myself.  I  see  that  a  certain  woman 
is  interested  in  a  certain  man ;  is  given  either 
joy  or  grief  through  him.  I  watch  her  expres- 
sion, I  follow  the  play  of  nerve  and  muscle  in 
her  face,  and  thus  I  learn  how  the  human  face 
reveals  the  workings  of  the  human  soul ;  and  I 
endeavour  to  follow  what  I  have  learned  thus  by 
observation. 

"  Let  me  give  a  further  illustration  of  what  I 


140  THE  KENDALS 

mean.  Actors  and  actresses,  like  others,  have 
their  sorrows,  and  I  have  had  some  bitter  ones. 
But  there  are  sorrows  on  which  silence  is  the 
only  possible  course  ;  the  heart  must  burst 
rather  than  the  tongue  should  speak.  Strangely 
and  unconsciously  the  art  of  the  actor  or  actress 
gives  nature  the  outlet  it  craves.  The  mimic 
emotions  of  the  stage  are  not  unreality,  pure  and 
simple,  to  the  artist,  are  not  impersonal  abstrac- 
tions. Nay,  they  are  often  his  or  her  very  self. 
Through  the  gestures,  the  words,  the  looks  of 
the  character  she  is  portraying,  the  actress  is 
pouring  forth  all  the  unfathomable  and  unex- 
pressed grief  of  her  own  heart.  People  tell  me 
that  my  acting  has  increased  in  its  pathos  as  I 
have  grown  older.  I'faith  it  should !  It  is 
difficult  even  for  the  best  artist  to  adequately 
express  emotions  she  has  not  felt  in  her  own 
person;  if  my  acting  has  more  of  pathos,  it  is 
that  I  have  seen  and  have  felt  more  of  life's 
sorrow.  The  scene  that  elicits  thunders  of 
applause,  that  draws  up  the  curtain  again  and 
again,  that  brings  down  praises  for  its  art,  is 
often  not  acting  at  all.  It  is  the  soul  laid  bare 
of  the  man  or  woman  who  has  been  praised  for 
the  mimicry  of  the  ideal." 

One     man's     disappointment     often     means 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1879-1884  141 

another  man's  opportunity,  and  so  it  was  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Coghlan's  "Good  (or  rather  had!) 
Fortune."  Mr.  A.  W.  Pinero,  who  was  then 
known  as  a  painstaking  member  of  the  Irving 
company  at  the  Lyceum,  and  the  author  of  one 
or  two  bright  httle  comediettas,  had  had  a  more 
ambitious  effort,  "The  Money  Spinner,"  success- 
fully exploited  in  the  provinces,  and  this  he  had 
submitted  to  the  management  of  the  St.  James's. 
There  a  change  of  bill  had  to  be  quickly  made, 
and  "The  Money  Spinner"  was,  in  default  of 
anything  else,  put  into  rehearsal.  The  chance 
for  the  author  was  certainly  a  splendid  one,  for, 
besides  the  Kendals  and  Mr.  Hare,  Mr.  John 
Clayton,  Mr.  Mackintosh,  and  Miss  Kate  Phillips 
were  included  in  the  cast,  and  the  piece  was 
carried  shoulder  high  to  success.  It  was  a 
strange  and  yet  a  fascinating  play.  To  begin 
with,  it  was  in  two  acts  (which  is  always  an 
unsatisfactory  state  of  things)  and  the  characters 
were  for  the  most  part  disreputable.  The 
heroine  dehberately  cheated  at  cards ;  her  father 
was  a  drunken  blackmailer;  her  sister  vulgar 
and  uninteresting  ;  the  hero  a  contemptible 
fellow  who  had  embezzled  his  employer's  money, 
and  who  was  terribly  afraid  of  what  he  had 
done  :    and    his    intimate   friend   was   a   knave 


142  THE  KENDALS 

amongst  detectives.  Amidst  this  abandoned 
crew  was  placed  a  guileless  but  almost  imbecile 
Scotch  lordling,  who  seemed  to  want  to  be  on 
terms  of  intimacy  with  one  and  all,  and,  as  long 
as  he  got  into  this  precious  family  circle,  in- 
different as  to  which  of  the  two  most  undesirable 
sisters  he  married. 

Mr.  Pinero  had  elected  to  work  with  strange 
material,  but  so  well  had  he  manipulated  it  that 
he  produced  a  play  that  absolutely  throbbed  with 
interest.  It  was  brilliantly  interpreted.  Mr. 
Kendal  was  admirable  as  the  vacuous  Scotch 
peer,  contriving,  by  sheer  force  of  art,  to  secure 
sympathy  where  a  less  able  actor  would  only 
have  excited  ridicule.  Mrs.  Kendal  —  as  the 
unhappy  girl  cardsharper,  the  "money  spinner" 
of  the  title — by  a  piece  of  acting  as  truthful, 
natural,  and  moving  as  it  could  well  be,  extorted 
compassion,  and  forced  the  public  to  acknowledge 
her  work  as  well  as  condone  her  offence.  It  was 
a  signal  triumph  to  achieve,  and  it  spoke 
volumes  for  the  power  of  the  actress.  As  the 
dissolute  and  crafty  old  Baron  Croodle  Mr. 
Hare  presented  one  of  the  richest  and  ripest  of 
his  many  character  studies,  and  sound  service 
was  rendered  by  the  other  members  of  the  com- 
pany.    A  triumph  was  secured — not  only  for  the 


ST.   JA3IES'S   THEATBE,    1879-1884  143 

management,  but  for  Mr.  Pinero — and,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  it  paved  the  way  for  great 
things. 

The  two-act  "  Money  Spinner  "  not  being  long 
enough  to  eke  out  the  bill,  it  was  followed  by  a 
welcome  revival  of  "A  Sheep  in  Wolf's  Cloth- 
ing," in  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal,  looking 
their  best  and  playing  their  best,  delighted  the 
audiences  as  Jasper  and  Anne  Carew.  In  Mr. 
Pinero  the  long  wanted  new  dramatist  had  been 
discovered,  but  as  he  was  not  yet  ready  with  a 
new  play  "  The  Lady  of  Lyons,"  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Kendal  in  their  old  parts  of  Claude 
Melnotte  and  Pauline  Deschappelles,  and  Mr. 
Hare,  "  for  the  first  time,"  as  Colonel  Damas, 
was  revived ;  and  then  followed  an  adaptation 
from  the  French  of  M.  Albert  Delpit  by  Mr. 
G.  W.  Godfrey,  entitled  "Coralie."  In  Paris 
"  Le  Fils  de  Coralie "  had  been  exceedingly 
popular,  but  its  transplantation  to  English  soil 
was  a  difficult  if  not  a  dangerous  affair.  In  all 
truth  its  story  was,  to  prejudiced  British  ears, 
an  ugly  one,  and  some  alarm  was  expressed  at 
such  a  "much  too  French  French"  plot  being 
unfolded  on  the  cleanly  boards  of  the  St. 
James's.  But  the  management  had  to  go  with 
the  times,  the  theatrical  weather-cock  was  just 


144  THE  KENDALS 

then  pointing  to  Paris,  and  in  the  face  of  a 
somewhat  tempestuous  wind  the  "  CoraHe  "  was 
fearlessly  launched. 

Whether  plays  deahng  with  matters  that 
environ  us,  on  which  we  cannot  shut  our  eyes, 
but  which  are  generally  tabooed  in  home  circles, 
should  have  a  place  on  the  English  stage  has 
ever  been  a  mooted  question,  and  it  was  far 
more  freely  raised  in  1881  than  it  is  in  1899. 

For  my  own  part,  whenever  I  hear  it  discussed 
I  think  of  the  reply  that  the  younger  Alexandre 
Dumas  made  to  the  accusation  that  he  above  all 
other  modern  Frenchmen  of  genius  had  trooped 
the  stage  with  vicious  women  :  that  he  had 
christened  the  demi-monde  by  its  new  name,  and 
drawn  his  most  famous  heroines  from  it ;  that  he 
had  sent  his  "  Lady  with  the  Camelias  "  starring 
it  round  the  world,  sometimes  dressed  in  seduc- 
tive prose,  sometimes  bedizened  with  libretti  and 
dainty  music,  and  when  he  had  occasionally 
taken  to  "morality"  it  was  generally  to  incul- 
cate that  the  sins  of  a  Messalina  should  be 
punished  with  the  ferocity  of  an  Amurath. 
Dumas's  reply  was  as  follows :  "We  dramatists," 
he  said,  "live  by  painting  manners  and  cha- 
racters, passions  and  vices — in  a  word,  all  the 
conflicts  of  poor  human  nature.     Are  we  to  pass 


Photo  hij] 


MI!.    KKNDAL   I.N    "  A   SHEEP   IN    WOLf's   CLOTHiTvO;, 


IJolin  Collier. 


ST.    JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1879-1884  145 

by  silently  and  with  averted  visage  these  figures 
of  modern  society — novel,  disquieting,  absorbing 
— which  play,  and  will  play,  so  large  a  part  in 
it?" 

Then,  in  reply  to  the  accusation  that  the  stage 
was  thus  made  a  school  either  forbidden  to  the 
young  or  likely  to  corrupt  them,  the  great 
French  playwright  answered :  "In  a  word, 
gentlemen,  I  speak  as  a  dramatist,  and  I  tell 
you  that  the  stage  is  not  designed  for  young 
girls.  Do  you  know  why  I  express  myself  so 
clearly  ?  It  is  simply  because  I  respect  all  that 
is  worthy  of  respect.  I  respect  girls  too  much 
to  ask  them  to  listen  to  all  that  I  have  to  say ; 
I  respect  my  art  too  much  to  reduce  it  within 
the  limits  of  what  young  girls  may  safely 
hear." 

Who  shall  say  which  is  the  right  side  of  this 
still  vexed  and  ever-open  question  ?  I  think 
most  English  folk  will  agree  with  the  French 
critic  who  replied  to  M.  Dumas  :  "You  tell  us 
not  to  bring  our  daughters,  and  you  say,  '  I  will 
address  them  when  they  are  women.'  Pardon 
me ;  there  are  many  more  subjects  on  which 
you  may  entertain  them  than  you  imagine  ;  and 
there  are  others  of  which  it  were  better  not  to 

speak  at  all." 

11 


146  THE  KENDALS 

Eighteen  years  ago  "  Ooralie,"  which  would 
easily  have  passed  muster  to-day,  caused  quite 
a  fluster,  and  some  of  the  good  folk  who  went  to 
see  the  play,  and  no  doubt  enjoyed  it,  objected 
that  the  subject  was  distasteful ;  that  the  scene 
ought  never  to  have  been  changed  from  France 
to  England ;  and  that  Mr.  Godfrey  was  incorrect 
in  his  law.  But  on  one  point  critics  and  the 
public  were  agreed.  By  her  really  magnificent 
acting  in  a  most  trying  part  Mrs.  Kendal  had 
surpassed  all  her  previous  efforts,  and  estabhshed 
her  reputation  as  the  first  English  actress  of  the 
day.  Mr.  Hare  and  Mr.  Kendal  were,  as  ever, 
faultless  in  style  and  finish. 

And  yet,  I  think,  the  best  friends  of  the  St. 
James's  gave  a  sigh  of  relief  when  "  CoraHe  " 
went  out  of  the  bills  to  make  way  for  a  very 
different  adaptation  from  the  French.  This  was 
T.  W.  Eobertson's  wholesome  and  brilliantly 
written  Enghsh  version  of  M.  Emile  Augier's 
"  L'Aventuriere,"  entitled  "Home,"  in  which 
Sothern  had  in  former  years  made  one  of  his 
successes  at  the  Haymarket.  In  that  captivating 
comedian's  old  part  of  Colonel  White  Mr. 
Kendal  made  another  palpable  hit;  as  the 
hapless  Mrs.  Pinchbeck  Mrs.  Kendal  played 
with  consummate  taste  and  pathos ;  Mr.  Hare, 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1879-1884  147 

with  remorseless  fidelity,  appeared  as  the  hateful 
Captain  Mountratfe ;  and  the  dead  author's  son, 
the  younger  T.  W.  Kobertson,  as  the  boy  Bertie 
Thompson,  was  allowed  his  first  good  chance  on 
the  London  stage. 

Associated  with  this  pleasant  picture  of 
"Home  "  was  Mr.  Clement  Scott's  delicate  and 
most  touching  adaptation  of  MM.  Dumanoir 
and  De  Keranion's  "  Jeanne  qui  Pleure,  et 
Jeanne  qui  Kit,"  called  "The  Cape  Mail."  In 
this  Mrs.  Kendal  found  a  part  that  suited  her 
well,  and  she  played  it  to  perfection. 

Yes,  there  can  be  cleanly  as  well  as  dis- 
tasteful adaptations  from  the  French.  Once 
when  they  were  playing  "  Corahe"  or  some  such 
play  in  Edinburgh,  the  Kendals  received  a  letter 
from  a  punctilious  Scotch  gentleman  deploring 
their  new  departure,  and  begging  for  a  repro- 
duction of  that  "pure  EngHsh  comedy,  'The 
Queen's  ShiUing.'  "  He  was  evidently  oblivious 
of  the  fact  that  Mr.  Godfrey  had  taken  it  from 
"  Un  Fils  de  Famille."  If  some  of  our  living 
English  dramatists  continue  to  "advance"  as 
they  seem  inclined  to  do,  and  as  they  are 
certainly  encouraged  to  do,  we  may  ere  long 
startle  Parisian  audiences  with  "adaptations 
from  the  Enghsh." 


148  THE  KENDALS 

At  the  close  of  1881  the  greatest  triumph  of 
the  management  was  achieved.  The  interest 
excited  by  "  The  Money  Spinner"  had  natm-ally 
led  to  an  application  to  Mr.  Pinero  for  a  new 
play,  and  when  "  The  Squire  "  was  produced 
his  reputation  (it  is  one  that  he  has  right 
worthily  upheld)  as  the  leading  English  dra- 
matist of  the  day  was  established.  It  was  a 
brilliant  success  for  all  concerned,  but,  as  usual, 
there  were  two  sides  to  the  picture.  Against 
both  author  and  managers  a  direct  charge  of 
plagiarism  was  made,  and  their  delight  was 
mingled  with  annoyance. 

It  was  a  curious  story.  When  the  new  play 
was  finished  (by  the  way,  it  was  originally  called 
"  Squire  Kate  ")  the  Kendals  and  Mr.  Hare  were 
acting  in  Birmingham,  and  Mr.  Pinero  went 
there  to  submit  it  to  them.  In  hearing  a  new 
piece  read  it  was  the  custom  of  the  three  to 
listen  quietly,  making  no  interruption,  but 
jotting  down  notes  for  after-comparison.  When 
Mr.  Pinero  had  finished  his  task  there  was  a 
consensus  of  opinion  that  the  work  was  an 
admirable  one.  But,  said  one  of  his  critics  (and 
the  remark  was  endorsed  by  the  other  two), 
"  Surely  it  is  based  on  Thomas  Hardy's  '  Far 
from  the  Madding  Crowd  '  ?  "    Emphatically  Mr. 


ST    JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1879-1884  149 

Pinero  declared  that  he  had  never  read  that 
charming  novel,  and  that  should  have  ended  the 
matter. 

The  play  was  singularly  like  the  story,  but 
those  who  are  conversant  with  such  matters 
know  that  such  things  will  occur. 

After  Mr.  F.  Anstey  had  published  his  clever 
novel,  "  The  Giant's  Eobe,"  he  was  in  the 
highest  quarters  roundly  accused  of  having 
"  carefully  quarried "  it  from  another  novel 
called  "Tom  Singleton,"  and  in  reply  he  said : 
"  I  never  read  a  line  of  '  Tom  Singleton  '  in  my 
life  ;  I  never  even  heard  the  title  mentioned 
until  my  novel  was  completely  planned  and  half 
written ;  no  single  incident,  character,  or 
situation  in  it  was  or  could  have  been  derived, 
directly  or  indirectly,  from  'Tom  Singleton.' 
That  there  are  coincidences,  and  strikingly  close 
coincidences,  between  the  two  novels  I  cannot 
doubt,  although  I  confess  that  I  have  always 
shrunk  from  making  the  comparison  for  myself  ; 
but  that  such  coincidences  must  be  purely 
accidental  I  can  say  with  absolute  confidence. 
By  the  nature  of  things  it  is  impossible  to  prove 
my  assertion ;  but  I  venture  to  hope  that  my 
word  will  be  accepted,  since  I  know  no  reason 
why  it  should  be  disbelieved."     By  the  nature 


150  THE  KENDAL S 

of  things  it  was  impossible  for  Mr.  Pinero  to 
prove  his  assertion,  but  assuredly  he  should  have 
been  believed. 

An  odd  coincidence  of  this  description  came 
under  my  own  notice  not  very  long  ago.  I  had 
been  spending  a  summer  holiday  in  a  remote 
English  village,  and  there  I  learned  how  a 
farmer's  daughter  had  "  not  wisely  but  tqo 
well "  loved  a  handsome  scamp  of  a  gypsy 
("  The  Prince  of  the  Gypsies  "  was  his  local 
name),  who  would  prowl  about  the  place  for 
weeks,  and,  when  he  had  done  all  the  harm  he 
could,  disappear  for  months.  The  poor  girl's 
story  was  the  old,  old  story  that  has  been  so 
wonderfully  condensed  and  summed  up  by 
Miss  Adelaide  Procter,  and  which  forms  one  of 
Mrs.  Kendal's  most  famous  and  fascinating 
recitations : — 

"  My  story  is  a  simple  one, 
A  very  true  one  too  ; 
I  had  a  friend  and  I  was  told, 
That  he  would  prove  untrue. 
He  told  me  that  he  loved  me — 
And  I  believed  his  vow  ; 
He  went  away  and  left  me, 
You  know  my  story  now." 

But  to  the  sad  little  history  of  this  luckless 
village  maiden  there  was  a  sequel  that  struck 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1879-1884  151 

me  as  being  highly  dramatic,  and  I  made  careful 
note  of  it,  thinking  that  it  might  be  well  used 
for  stage  purposes. 

Last  year  I  saw  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beerbohm  Tree 
in  Mr.  Louis  N.  Parker's  adaptation  of  Jean 
Richepin's  "  Le  Chemineau  "  entitled  "  Eagged 
Eobin,"  and  there,  in  its  entirety — incidents, 
characters,  and  situations — was  the  actual  story 
that  I  had  observed  in  real  life,  and  of  which,  I 
know,  no  one  but  myself  had  taken  any  note. 
It  was  impossible  that  it  should  have  travelled 
from  the  heart  of  the  English  Midlands  to 
France,  and  from  thence  retransplanted  to  Eng- 
lish soil !  It  was  coincidence — pure  coincidence ; 
and  I  suppose  that  the  truth  of  the  matter  is 
that,  if  we  only  choose  to  look  for  them,  such  sad 
episodes  are  occurring  round  and  about  us  every 
day. 

Many  of  us  must  remember  how  in  our  school- 
days we  were  mercilessly  called  upon  to  unravel 
a  brain  -  distracting  algebraic  problem  which 
asked  us  how  many  tunes  could  possibly  be 
obtained  out  of  the  changes  to  be  made  on  the 
keys  of  an  ordinary  piano.  I  know  it  took  many 
sheets  of  foolscap  to  arrive  at  the  answer  (and  I 
remember  wishing  that  the  foolscap  had  been  on 
my  head  instead  of  in  my  mind)  ;  but  it  could 


152  THE  KENDAL S 

be  and  was  worked  out,  and  I  have  ever  since 
wondered  if  the  same  ghastly  theory  could  be 
applied  to  the  events  that  might  take  place  in 
fact  and  fiction. 

Unhappily,  in  the  case  of  ''  The  Squire  "  and 
"Far  from  the  Madding  Crowd"  there  was  a 
complication,  and  through  it  a  great  deal  of 
acrimonious  letter  -  writing  and  bitter  feeling 
ensued.  An  avowed  version  of  Mr.  Hardy's 
novel  had  been  submitted  to  the  St.  James's 
managers — it  had  been  declined — and  shortly 
afterwards  "The  Squire,"  running  so  nearly  on 
the  same  lines,  was  produced. 

This  gave  rise  to  many  unjust  accusations, 
and  a  brisk  but  a  much-to-be-deplored  corre- 
spondence in  the  public  press.  If  Mr.  Hare, 
Mr.  Kendal,  and  Mr.  Pinero  had  been  the  sort 
of  men  to  shrug  their  shoulders,  laugh,  and  say, 
"  This  much  ado  about  nothing  will  give  us  bold 
advertisement,  and  send  up  the  business  at  the 
box  office,"  it  would  have  been  endurable,  but 
as  they  happened  to  be  upright  and  sensitive 
English  gentlemen,  they  were  sorely  troubled, 
and  especially  so  when  they  discovered  that,  in 
spite  of  their  well-won  popularity,  there  existed 

swarms  of  those  "  d d  good-natured  friends," 

mentioned   by  Sheridan's  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary, 


ST.    JAMES'S   THEATBE,    1879-1884  153 

only  too  anxious  to  think  ill  of,  and  to  sting, 
their  fellow-creatures. 

That  the  managers  were  right  in  their  judg- 
ment between  the  two  plays  was  amply  proved 
by  facts.  In  due  course,  and  with  Mrs.  Bernard 
Beere  as  the  heroine,  Mr.  Comyns  Carr's  version 
of  "Far  from  the  Madding  Crowd"  was  pro- 
duced at  the  Globe  Theatre,  but  though  its  high 
merits  were  frankly  and  deservedly  acknow- 
ledged, it  has  not  held  the  stage  as  "  The 
Squire"  has  done.  From  the  literary  stand- 
point it  was  irreproachable,  but  it  was  not  such 
a  good  "  acting  "  play. 

As  for  "The  Squire"  at  the  St.  James's,  its 
success  was  as  immediate  as  it  was  emphatic. 
A  critic  spoke  for  the  pubUc  when  he  said: 
"  The  fresh,  breezy  atmosphere  of  '  The  Squire  ' 
carries  us  away  from  the  busy  world  and  takes 
us  into  scenes  of  charming  rural  life.  The  play 
is  redolent  of  country  air  and  pure  domestic 
scenes  that  are  a  relief  from  the  everyday  inci- 
dents of  a  town  life,  and  as  hearty  and  as 
welcome  as  they  are  singularly  pleasing." 

Mrs.  Kendal  declares  that  she  loves  to  play  in 
Mr.  Pinero's  pieces  :  she  feels  that  he  has  an 
insight  into  the  undercurrent  of  a  woman's 
mind,  and  I  think  he  never  pleased  her  so  well 


154  THE  KENDAL S 

(certainly  he  never  suited  her  better)  than  when 
he  pictured  her  as  sweet  Kate  Verity.  It  was  a 
most  difficult  part  to  play,  and  only  a  genius 
could  have  surmounted  one  very  delicate  episode, 
where  the  greatest  taste  as  well  as  the  exhibition 
of  the  truest  womanly  feehng  were  required.  If 
it  had  not  been  handled  as  she  handled  it  the 
play  might  have  been  wrecked  and  audiences 
offended ;  as  it  was,  she  hushed  her  hearers  into 
a  tender  sympathy  that  was  indescribably  affect- 
ing. Even  the  severest  of  critics  now  acknow- 
ledged that  in  strong  emotional  characters  Mrs. 
Kendal  had  no  living  rival.  Mr.  Hare  was 
dehghtful  as  an  eccentric  country  clergyman  ; 
Mr.  Kendal  did  wonders  with  a  part  that,  less 
carefully  touched,  might  have  been  repellent ; 
and  Mr.  Wenman,  Mr.  Mackintosh,  Mr.  T.  W. 
Kobertson,  and  indeed  all  the  members  of  the 
St.  James's  Company  (by  the  way,  it  included 
Mr.  Brandon  Thomas,  the  author  of  "  Charley's 
Aunt,"  and  then  a  stage  recruit)  contributed  in- 
valuable character  studies.  Mr.  Pinero  had 
fulfilled  his  desire.  Aided  by  his  interpreters, 
the  "  scent  of  hay  "  was  wafted  "  over  the  foot- 
lights," and  the  stage  presented  faultless  pictures 
of  English  country  life. 

"  The  Squire  "  became  as  popular  in  the  pro- 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATRE,   1879-1884  155 

vinces  as  it  had  been  in  London,  and  when  the 
company  visited  Birmingham  a  rhymester  became 
so  enthusiastic  over  Kate  Verity  that  he  pub- 
Hshed  the  following  tribute  to  Mrs.  Kendal : — 

"  Welcome  back  again  among  us,  welcome  to  our  town  once 

more, 
With  your  merry  smiles  to  cheer  us,  as  in  pleasant  days 

of  yore, 
When  you  were  a  childish  '  Wild  Goose,'  ere  you  were  a 

'  Wife  Well  Won,' 
When  you  were  a  girlish  Pauline,  Lady  Teazle  full  of  fun, 
Sweet  and  loving  Ada  Ingot,  winsome  Charlotte,  gay  and 

bright ; 
Cold,  romantic  Lydia  Languish,  Viola  afraid  to  fight. 
Ah !  as  we  recall  these  portraits,  those   bright   evenings 

spent  with  you, 
Hard  it  is  enough  to  thank  you,  hard  to  give  you  back 

your  due. 
How  the  mem'ries  crowd  upon  us ! — wo  can  conjure  up  at 

will 
Tears  we  shed  with  Countess  D'Autreval,  laughter  loud  at 

'  Uncle's  Will  '— 
Laughter  that  was  good  and  honest,  wholesome  tears  that 

purify, 
And  make  better  those  who  shed  them,  while  your  art  they 

glorify. 

*^  Rosalind  is  now  before  us  ;  Julia  proud,  and  Lady  Gay, 
All  these  live  in  minds  of  thousands,  and  will  live  for  many 

a  day ; 
What  is  this?  'A  Scrap  of  Paper?'  yes,  and  'twixt  our 

smiles  a  tear, 
Galatea  is  living  for  us — crowning-point  of  your  career. 


156  THE  KENDALS 

Busy  Birmingham,  the  smoky,  loves  you  with  its  stout  old 

heart, 
Loves  you  for  your  winning  presence,  for  your  triumphs  in 

your  art ; 
Birmingham  is  not  unmindful,  that  on  days  of  hard-earned 

rest 
You  have  given  time  and  talent  for  its  stricken  and  distrest ; 
In  its  book  of  local  history  there  is  set  apart  a  page 
Where    that   goodness   is   recorded,    how   the   queen   of 

England's  stage 
Came  to  aid  the  sick  and  needy ;  and  as  year  succeeds  to 

year 
Birmingham  will  ever  thank  you,  ever  hold  your  name 

most  dear." 


Of  course  this  is  not  "  poetry"  (!),  but  I  like 
to  quote  it  in  proof  of  my  already  recorded 
contention  that,  in  common  with  other  dramatic 
artists,  the  Kendals  do  not  know  how  careers 
are  watched  and  memories  cherished  by  people 
who  to  them  will  ever  be  strangers. 

And  in  glancing  at  this  fine  gallery  of  stage 
portraits,  and  in  thinking  of  the  still  longer  one 
that  has  followed  it,  one  cannot  but  remember 
one  of  Mrs.  Kendal's  contentions  to  the  effect 
that  the  work  of  an  actress  is  really  far  more 
difficult  than  that  of  an  actor,  because  she  can- 
not be  permitted  by  "make-up,"  change  of 
personal  appearance,  or  by  mock  intonation,  to 
conceal  her  identity  under  the  cloak  of  a  great 


ST.   JAMES'S    THEATRE,    1879-1884  157 

"  character"  part.  No.  In  the  case  of  a  popular 
actress  the  pubhc  expect  and  demand  the  famihar 
face,  voice,  and  form,  and  all  she  has  to  depend 
upon  is  the  subtle  change  of  expression. 

With  the  next  production  at  the  St.  James's 
came  renewed  success,  and  this  was  all  the  more 
remarkable  because  in  Mr.  B.  C.  Stephenson's 
adaptation    of   MM.  Xavier   de    Montepin   and 
Kervani's    "La    Maison     du     Mari,"    entitled 
"Impulse,"  Mr.  Hare  found  no  part  that  would 
suit  him,   and,  leaving  the  chief  characters  of 
the  play  to  Mr.  T.  N.  Wenman  and  Miss  Linda 
Dietz — most    admirably   they    played     them — 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  elected  to  appear  in  what 
seemed   minor   roles.      That   the   play   was   an 
absorbing  one,  and  perfectly  dealt  with  by  Mr. 
Stephenson,  goes  without  saying.     If  it  had  not 
been    so    "Impulse"    would    never   have   won 
and,  through  many  succeeding  years,  maintained 
its  enormous  popularity;  and  yet  it  was  generally 
admitted   that   its   chief  attraction   lay  in   the 
delicate    yet    truly  humorous  comedy  acting  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal.    In  Captain  Crichton  Mr. 
Kendal  found  a  great  opportunity,  and  he  used 
it  with  the  skill  and  moderation  of  a  consummate 
artist.     Hitherto  Eobertson's  Captain  Hawtree 
had  been  considered  the  ideal  of   the  "swell" 


158  THE  KENDALS 

military  officer  with  a  heart  of  gold  and  a  nerve 
of  steel,  yet  with  a  manner  that,  while  amusing 
enough  to  audiences,  suggested  the  vague, 
empty-headed  man  of  society;  but  Captain 
Crichton  subordinated  him  to  a  second  place. 
The  bearing,  the  walk,  the  talk  (with  its  in- 
fectious and  well-delivered  catch-phrase  of  "  Oh, 
but  I  say  you  are,  you  are,  you  know  you  are!") 
of  this  handsome  and  gorgeously  uniformed 
artillery  officer  at  once  caught  the  eye  and  ear 
of  the  town,  and  Mr.  Kendal  deservedly  won  the 
honours  of  the  theatrical  season.  If  he  had 
been  an  actor  of  a  different  type  he  could  easily 
have  developed  Captain  Crichton  into  a  second 
Lord  Dundreary — have  subordinated  the  plot  of 
"Impulse"  to  his  own  constant  appearance 
on  the  stage,  and  to  the  delight  of  laughter- 
loving  multitudes  have  gone  on  playing  the  part 
for  thousands  and  thousands  of  times ;  but,  like 
a  true  artist,  he  never  for  an  instant  stepped  out 
of  the  picture  ;  although  he  must  have  known 
that  he  had  the  great  acting  success  of  the  play 
he  let  others  score  as  well  as  himself,  and  his 
self-denial  was  as  praiseworthy  as  his  imper- 
sonation. 

As   for  Mrs.  Kendal   as  Mrs.  Beresford,  the 
warm-hearted  and  irresistible  young  widow — as 


ST.    JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1879-1884  159 

full  of  fun  as  of  sound  sense  and  true  womanly 
feeling — she  ^Yas  delightful.  The  scenes  between 
the  Kendals  in  "Impulse"  recalled  the  happy 
evenings  of  "  Uncle's  Will  "  and  "  K  Scrap  of 
Paper,"  and  the  old  charm  of  their  dual  comedy 
playing  was  once  more  achieved  and  appreciated. 
Although  in  adapting  the  play  Mr.  Stephenson 
had  transplanted  it  to  English  soil,  he  made  the 
"  villain  of  the  piece  " — Mons.  Victor  de  Eiel — 
a  Frenchman.  This  part  (it  was  ultimately 
very  well  portrayed  by  the  ill-fated  Arthur 
Dacre)  was  offered  by  the  Kendals  to  Frederic 
Achard  of  the  Paris  Gymnase  Theatre,  the  clever 
creator  of  the  title-role  of  Alexandre  Dumas's 
"  Monsieur  Alphonse,"  and  the  originator  of  the 
outrageous  Parisian  "Bebe,"  so  skilfully  con- 
verted by  Mr.  F.  C.  Burnand  into  the  decorous 
Loudon  "Betsy."  Achard,  who  was  a  very  old 
personal  friend  of  mine,  spoke  English  well,  and 
was  desirous  of  filling  the  place  on  our  stage  left 
vacant  by  M.  Fechter.  Thinking  he  might  be 
useful  to  them  in  the  acquirement  of  French 
plays,  I  introduced  him  to  the  Kendals  (it  was 
through  him  that  they  subsequently  purchased 
the  English  rights  in  that  great  Gymnase 
success,  M.  Georges  Ohnet's  "  Le  Maitre  de 
Forges"),    and    when    they   offered    him    this 


160  THE  KENDALS 

important   character   I    strongly  urged    him    to 
accept  it. 

But  Achard  was  ambitious.  He  must  be 
"leading  man"  or  nothing,  and  declared  that 
"  before  taking  a  London  theatre  of  his  own," 
he  would  tempt  fortune  on  his  own  account  in 
the  English  provinces.  With  this  object  in 
view  he  purchased  a  drama  with  a  strong  and 
very  remarkable  plot  that  had  been  a  marked 
success  at  one  of  the  minor  Parisian  playhouses 
and  gave  me  the  task  of  adapting  it.  Of  the 
sequel  to  this  hasty  venture  I  am  tempted  to 
relate  a  httle  anecdote.  With  a  new  Fechter 
triumph  in  full  view,  Achard  engaged  an 
English  company  and  boldly  booked  a  tour, 
and  when  the  adaptation  was  completed  all 
concerned  in  the  venture  were  elated  with  the 
prospect  of  a  golden  harvest.  Oddly  enough, 
a  strange  oversight  was  committed,  and  it  was 
only  within  a  week  or  so  of  the  advertised 
production  of  the  play  in  Liverpool  that  it  was 
submitted  to  the  then  Licenser  of  Plays,  the  late 
Mr.  Piggott.  To  the  dismay  of  every  one,  the 
license  was  promptly  and  curtly  refused,  and,  as 
Mr.  Piggott  happened  to  be  a  good  and  kind 
friend  of  mine,  I  was  begged  to  interview  him 
on  the  subject.     I  found  him  (as  ever)  courteous 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATBE,  1879-1884  161 

and  friendly,  but  absolutely  firm,  and  when  I 
told  him  that  I  could  see  no  harm  in  the  play 
(to-day  it  would  easily  pass  muster),  he  said : 
"  My  dear  fellow,  I  can  easily  understand  that ; 
yours  is  no  uncommon  case;  you  have  wallowed 
so  long  in  the  filthy  French  original  that  your 
judgment  has  become  warped  and  distorted  ; 
you  can  hardly  recognise  right  from  wrong." 
"But,"  I  argued,  "my  wife,  who  has  never 
seen  the  French  original,  considers  this  to  be  a 
most  interesting  and  thoroughly  innocent  play." 

"  Then,"  said  Mr.  Piggott,  bringing  the  inter- 
view to  an  end,  "  if  I  were  in  your  place,  my 
good  friend,  I  should  give  up  adapting  French 
plays,  and  go  home  and  looTx   after  my  tvife  !  " 

Being  pledged  to  his  tour  and  his  company, 
Frederic  Achard  did  go  the  round  of  the 
provinces,  appearing  in  several  different  parts, 
and  being  very  cordially  and  generously  treated 
by  the  public  and  his  critics,  many  of  whom 
compared  him  to  Fechter.  I  think  if  he  had 
persevered  he  would  have  made  his  mark  on  the 
English  stage,  but  domestic  matters  recalled 
him  to  France,  and  he  never  repeated  the 
experiment. 

The  next  production  at  the  St.  James's  was 

"  Young  Folks'  Ways,"  by  that  charming  writer 
12 


162  THE  KENDAL S 

Mrs.  Burnett  and  Mr.  W.  H.  Gillette,  the  well- 
known  American  actor-author  who  has  recently 
made  himself  so  popular  with  English  audiences. 
In  this  the  hon's  share  of  the  work  fell  to  Mr, 
Hare,  who,  as  Old  Kogers,  a  weakly  and  hen- 
pecked North  CaroHna  settler,  presented  a  subtle 
yet  powerful  picture  of  a  feeble  but  warm- 
hearted man,  more  or  less  afraid  of  his 
turbulent,  exacting  wife,  but  determined  in 
face  of  all  opposition  to  safeguard  the  interests 
of  his  dearly  loved  daughter,  Esmeralda,  a  part 
that  was  most  charmingly  played  by  Miss 
Webster.  As  in  "  Impulse,"  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kendal  contented  themselves  with  cabinet 
portraits.  As  the  eager  Estabrook  and  the 
winsome,  cheery  Nora  Desmond  they  were 
voted  delightful,  but  "Young  Folks'  Ways" 
lacked  the  backbone  of  "  Impulse,"  and  shortly 
gave  way  to  a  revival  of  that  hardy  perennial, 
"A  Scrap  of  Paper."  By  the  way,  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  in  the  Burnett-Grillette  play 
Mr.  G-eorge  Alexander,  as  the  picturesque  Dave 
Hardy,  made  his  first  great  success  on  the  stage 
of  which  he  subsequently  became,  and  still  most 
happily  is,  the  deservedly  popular  chief. 

Of  the  next  novelty  at  the  St.  James's  there 
is  little  need  to  say  much,  for  Mr.   and  Mrs. 


Phuto.  bui 


MK.    AND    MKS.    KKNDAL    IX    "THE    IKONMASTEI! 


ST.   JAMES'S  THEATEE,    1879-1884  163 

Kendal's  impersonations  of  Philippe  Derblay 
and  Claire  de  Beaupre,  in  Mr.  Pinero's  deftly 
and  delicately  written  version  of  "  Le  Maitre 
de  Forges,"  entitled  "  The  Ironmaster,"  are 
still  so  fresh  in  the  minds  of  playgoers  that 
they  need  no  description.  For  fifteen  years 
they  have  appeared  in  them  to  the  intense 
interest  and  pleasure  of  both  American  and 
English  audiences,  and  critics  have  fairly  agreed 
that  it  is  among  the  best  serious  work  they  have 
done. 

I  think  we  all  love  the  Kendals  best  in  pure 
comedy,  but  thousands  of  us  have  shed  tears 
over  the  rather  sombre  "Ironmaster"  and  his 
long-time  misunderstood  and  unhappy  bride. 
The  scene  where  the  cold  husband  carelessly 
places  the  costly  string  of  diamonds  on  his 
misunderstood  and  neglected  bride's  neck,  and 
her  hands  hopelessly  stray  up  to  grasp  those 
that  should  kiss  them,  is  soul-haunting. 


CHAPTEK   VII 

THE   SOCIAL  SCIENCE   CONGEE SS 

TN  the  August  of  1884  a  friend,  who  was 
-^  greatly  interested  in  the  Social  Science 
Congress  announced  to  meet  in  Birmingham 
in  the  following  month,  came  to  me  for  advice. 
It  was  feared  by  the  local  committee  that  the 
papers  promised  by  the  distinguished  savcmts 
who  had  undertaken  to  attend  and  take  part 
in  the  proceedings,  though  sure  to  be  clever, 
were  likely  to  be  prosy.  They  did  not  want 
Birmingham  to  be  saddled  with  the  reproach 
of  a  dull  and  uninteresting  meeting,  and  they 
were  in  search  of  some  special  attraction  to 
"  Hven  it  up."  My  friend's  errand  was  this  : 
"  Did  I  think  Mrs.  Kendal  (who  was  then  as 
now  one  of  the  most  popular  personalities  of  the 
day)  would  contribute  a  paper?"  I  told  him 
that,  considering  the  nature  of  her  engagements, 
I  felt  sure  such  a  thing  would  be  impossible ;  I 


166  THE  KENDALS 

absolutely  declined  to  take  any  part  in  pressing 
her  to  accept  such  an  invitation ;  and  finally 
told  him  his  only  plan  would  be  to  make  a 
direct  and  formal  application  to  her. 

This  was  done,  and,  finding  that  she  and  her 
husband  would  be  acting  in  Birmingham  during 
the  Congress  week,  Mrs.  Kendal,  through  sheer 
good  nature,  said  "yes."  The  rather  despon- 
dent committee  at  once  became  jubilant ;  with 
such  an  attraction  to  offer,  the  difficulty  of 
securing  subscribers  was  at  an  end,  and  the 
success  of  the  gathering  was  assured. 

I  write  all  this  to-day  because,  although  on  the 
afternoon  of  her  reading  Mrs.  Kendal  instructed 
and  delighted  a  brilliant  audience,  and  secured  a 
signal  personal  triumph,  absolutely  unforeseen 
results  followed  which  were  aggravating,  and  it 
is  time  that  the  truth  about  the  matter  should 
be  told. 

It  will  be  noted  that  Mrs.  Kendal  had  by  no 
means  courted  the  honour  thrust  upon  her,  and 
I  think  that  as  the  time  for  the  fulfilment  of  her 
undertaking  approached  she  grew  a  little  nervous 
concerning  it.  I  know  that  Mr.  Kendal  thought 
that  with  all  his  wife  had  to  do  during  an  excep- 
tionally busy  and  arduous  country  tour  it  was 
wrono;  that  she  should  be  asked  to  add  to  her 


THE   SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGBESS         167 

work,  but  Mrs.  Kendal  never  breaks  a  promise, 
and  after  some  consultation  a  paper  was  com- 
piled. She  really  had  nothing  on  any  subject 
that  she  particularly  wanted  to  say,  for,  like  most 
fully  occupied  and  level-minded  people,  the 
Kendals  had  never  sought  publicity  outside  their 
own  profession,  and  have  studiously  "  minded 
their  own  business,"  but  "  The  Drama  "  seemed 
to  her  to  be  the  right  topic,  and  "  The  Drama  " 
was  chosen.  Now,  in  the  compilation  of  that 
paper  only  one  object  was  held  in  view.  A 
bright  and  well-informed  address  was  wanted, 
and  the  great  thing  was  to  make  it  as  lively  as 
possible.  As  the  devoted  daughter  of  William 
Eobertson,  from  whose  article  on  "The  Actor's 
Social  Position  "  I  have  already  quoted,  Mrs. 
Kendal  naturally  holds  strong  opinions  as  to  the 
self-respect  which  should  be  the  keynote  of  her, 
as  of  every,  profession,  and  she  is  always,  when 
asked,  prepared  to  speak  frankly  on  the  subject. 
But  that  in  this  Social  Science  paper  nothing 
unkind  was  meant,  I  Juiotv.  Little  foibles,  little 
vanities,  the  little  mistakes  to  which  actors  and 
actresses  in  common  with  all  man  and  woman- 
kind are  liable  were  dealt  with,  but  only  from  a 
humorous  point  of  view.  Personalities  were 
not  dreamt  of,  and  could  not  be   discovered  by 


168  THE   KENDALS 

the  few  experts  (they  inchided  at  least  two  very 
prominent  actors)  who  read  it  before  it  became 
the  property  of  the  public. 

On  September  23,  1884,  the  address  was 
given  (it  cannot  be  said  that  it  was  "  read,"  for, 
consummate  mistress  of  her  art  as  she  is,  Mrs. 
Kendal  did  not  seem  to  be  reading)  with  a 
success  that  I  have  already  recorded.  The  Eight 
Hon.  Gr.  Shaw-Lefevre,  M.P.,  President  of  the 
Congress,  occupied  the  chair  ;  he  was  supported 
by  leading  lights  ;  and  there  was  a  thronged 
auditorium. 

The  paper  ran  as  follows  : — 

THE  DEAMA 

A  Paper  read  by  Mrs.  Kendal  at  the  Congress  of  the 
National  Association  for  the  Promotion  of  Social 
Science,  Birmingham,  September,  1884.='' 

In  dealing  with  the  Drama  within  the  neces- 
sarily brief  limits  of  a  Social  Science  Association 
paper,  the  great  difficulty  is  to  decide  from  what 
point  of  view  so  large  a  subject  is  to  be  treated. 
That  it  should  have  a  place  in  your  discussions 
seems  appropriate  enough,  for  assuredly  there 
never  was  a  time  when  the  Theatre  was  more 

*  This  is  printed  from  the  original  MS.  in  the  possession, 
and  the  property,  of  the  writer. 


THE   SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGBESS         169 

popular,  or  so  much  a  topic  of  conversation,  as 
now.  The  Enghsh  people  are  indeed  rapidly 
becoming  alive  to  the  fact  that  the  "  progress 
and  culture  of  a  nation  depend  upon  its  diver- 
sions as  well  as  upon  its  occupations,"  and  as  a 
matter  of  consequence  the  dramatic  art  is 
receiving  an  unprecedented  meed  of  recognition. 
It  appears  to  me,  therefore,  that  the  most  useful 
thing  for  me  to  do  to-day  will  be  to  glance  for  a 
few  moments  at  the  difference  in  the  condition 
of  the  Drama  in  its  earliest  days  and  now,  and 
to  consider  in  what  ways  it  has  improved,  in 
what  deteriorated.  That  it  has  in  many  ways 
improved  every  playgoer  of  intelligence  must 
admit ;  that  it  has  in  some  ways  deteriorated 
those  who  are  closely  associated  with  it  are 
forced  to  allow. 

It  is  an  easy  and  a  pleasant  task  to  speak  of 
its  improvements.  I  believe — nay,  I  know — 
that  there  still  exist  very  worthy  but  self-con- 
stituted critics  who  speak  with  shake  of  head  and 
regretful  sigh  of  what  are  called  the  "palmy 
days  "  of  the  Drama.  That  grand  actors  and 
consummate  actresses  lived  in  bygone  days  is  a 
matter  beyond  all  dispute  ;  and  indeed,  when  one 
comes  to  consider  the  conditions  under  which 
they  were  compelled  to  follow  their  art,  it  seems 


170  THE   KENDALS 

almost  impossible  to  speak  too  highly  of  the 
genius  which  enabled  them  indelibly  to  stamp 
their  names  upon  the  age  in  which  they  lived, 
and  which  will  cause  them  to  be  honourably, 
nay,  gloriously,  remembered  in  ages  yet  to  come. 
But  surely  I  am  justified  in  saying  that  the 
playgoer  of  to-day  possesses  advantages  far  and 
away  above  those  which  his  forefathers  enjoyed. 
Let  us  compare  for  a  moment  the  playhouses  of 
which  we  read  with  those  with  which  we  are 
familiar. 

In  the  old  days  the  utmost  disorder  was 
allowed  to  exist  in  the  half -lighted  auditorium. 
Eating  and  drinking  were  freely  indulged  in  ; 
smoking  was  permitted ;  wine,  spirits,  and 
tobacco  were  hawked  about ;  card-playing  was 
resorted  to  between  the  acts  ;  the  more  distin- 
guished among  the  audience  were  allowed  to 
walk  and  sit  on  the  stage,  and  to  converse  with 
the  performers.  It  was  no  disgrace  in  those 
days  for  gentlemen  of  good  social  position  to  be 
seen  tipsy  at  the  play,  and  of  course  drunken 
brawls  and  disgraceful  quarrels  were  of  frequent 
occurrence. 

The  entertainment  provided  on  the  stage  was 
on  a  level  with  the  intellect  of  the  audience,  and 
the  playgoers  were  looked  upon  as  "  rogues  and 


THE   SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGRESS         171 

vagabonds."  No  wonder  that  the  Drama  got  a 
bad  name,  or  that  people  with  a  puritanical  turn 
of  mind  regarded  it  with  dismay. 

Of  course  all  this  is  going  back  a  very  long 
way,  and  matters  began  by  degrees  to  improve  ; 
but  I  venture  to  say  that  it  was  not  until  the 
present  generation  that  correctness  in  costume, 
fidelity  in  scene-painting,  and  attention  to  every 
little  detail  connected  with  the  action,  came  to 
be  looked  upon  as  absolutely  essential  to  the 
proper  production  of  a  play. 

Nowadays,  indeed,  that  which  is  technically 
known  as  the  "  staging  "  of  a  play  is  in  itself  a 
work  of  true  art,  and  in  its  own  way  gives  rise 
to  as  much  thought  and  care  as  the  author  has 
for  his  dialogue  or  the  actor  for  his  part.  It  has 
been  objected  lately  that  too  much  attention  is 
apt  to  be  given  to  scenery,  furniture,  and  acces- 
sories, and  that  there  is  a  danger  of  the  Drama 
suffering  from  over-elaboration  in  this  direction. 
In  plain  English,  this  means  a  thing  may  be 
too  well  done  ;  and  it  seems  hard  to  subscribe 
to  such  a  theory.  Our  forefathers,  you  will 
remember,  were  content  with  a  background  for 
their  plays,  on  which  the  name  of  the  place 
supposed  to  be  represented  was  written  up, 
such  as  "  This  is  Thebes,"  or  "  This  is  a  forest," 


172  THE  KENDALS 

or  sometimes  even  this  trouble  was  not  taken, 
and  the  actors  had  to  inform  the  audience  where 
the  action  of  the  piece  lay. 

"  Our  scene  is  Ehodes  " 

is  the  brilliant  opening  line  given  to  an  actor  in 
an  old  drama. 

These  crude  arrangements  gave  way  to  the 
introduction  of  scenery,  but  it  was  a  long  time 
before  anything  like  correctness  was  attempted, 
and  we  can  most  of  us  remember  the  days  when 
there  was  no  complaint  of  the  thing  being 
"  overdone." 

Can  it  be  "  overdone"  ?  If  a  scene  is  to  be 
represented  at  all,  can  it  be  given  with  too  much 
truth  or  attention  to  detail  ?  Of  course,  lack  of 
judgment  spoils  everything,  and  it  is  very  likely 
that  mistakes  in  this  direction  have  given  rise 
to  the  complaint.  It  is  useless  to  lavish  mere 
money  on  a  scene.  If  the  interior  of  a  peasant's 
cottage  is  to  be  represented  much  expenditure 
on  the  furniture  would  be  ridiculous  ;  but  surely 
the  artistic  care  that  reproduces  the  humble 
home  of  the  labourer,  down  to  such  minute 
details  as,  say,  the  "sampler"  stitched  in  silk 
which  his  wife  had  worked  when  a  girl  at  the 


THE   SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGRESS         173 

village    school,    and   which   now   decorates    his 
walls,  is  a  thing  to  be  admired. 

Again,  if  the  scene  is  a  landscape,  ought  it 
not  to  be  made  as  true  to  lovely  nature  as  "the 
resources  of  art  will  allow  ?     Or  if  it  is  a  room 
in  a  palace,  can  it  be  too  beautifully  given  ?     If 
the   surroundings   and  minutiae  of    such  scenes 
are  correct  and  in  good  taste  they  must  add  not 
only  to  the  enjoyment  but  to  the  education  of  an 
audience ;    for   it   may  be   reasonably  supposed 
that  the  frequenters  of  the  less  expensive  seats 
in  a   theatre   have   not   many  opportunities  of 
becoming  familiar  with  the  interiors  of  palaces  ; 
and  it  is  certain  that  the  jaded  City  clerk,  who 
seeks  a  little  recreation  at  the  play,  does  not  see 
too    much    of    landscape,   nor   has   he   a   very 
intimate   acquaintance    with    the   indescribable 
attractions    of     an     English     villager's    home. 
Perhaps   it   would   be   well   for   those   who  are 
disposed  to  be   satirical   concerning  what  they 
call    "over-attention    to    detail"    and    "over- 
elaboration  "  to  give  a  thought  to  this  side  of 
the  question   before   airing   their   opinions.     It 
may  then,  I  think,  be  conceded  that  in  matters 
of  scenery  the  improvements  are  not  only  great 
but  remarkable. 

The  comfort  of  the  audience,  too — is  not  that 


174  THE  KENDALS 

considered  nowadays  as  it  was  never  considered 
before  ?  For  obvious  reasons  I  do  not  often 
form  one  of  an  audience  myself,  but  I  should 
certainly  think  that  good  light,  attention  to 
warmth  and  ventilation,  soft  cushions,  ample 
room,  good  music,  and,  above  all,  cleanliness, 
are  things  to  be  appreciated  and  to  be  added  to 
our  list  of  improvements. 

And  while  advances  in  this  respect  have  been 
made  before  the  curtain,  equally  great  ones  have 
taken  place  behind  it,  and  actors  and  actresses 
are  at  last  surrounded  by  the  conveniences  and 
comforts  which  gentlemen  and  ladies  have  a 
right  to  expect.  For  the  improvements — the 
great  improvements — that  have  been  made  in 
this  way  honour  should  be  given  where  honour 
is  due.  It  was  the  Management  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales's  Theatre  that,  some  seventeen  years 
ago,  first  paid  attention  to  the  comfort  of  the 
artists  it  engaged,  and  made  the  theatre  behind 
the  scenes  what  it  now  is.  This  fact  should  be 
recorded,  because  praise  is  too  often  given  to 
those  who  have  only  followed  a  good  example. 

We  have  more  play- writers,  too,  than  of  old ; 
and  although  a  cry  is  constantly  going  up  that 
there  is  a  dearth  of  good  dramatists,  it  is  a 
matter    of    fact    that    much   excellent   modern 


THE   SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGRESS         175 

literary  work  has  been,  and  is,  associated  with 
the  Stage. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  playwright  of  to-day 
is  hardly  appreciated  as  he  should  be.  His 
work  is  subject  to  keen  and  universal  criticism ; 
for  it  is  a  curious  fact  that,  whereas  few  would 
venture  to  criticise  books,  poems,  or  paintings 
without  some  little  special  knowledge,  every  one 
thinks  he  has  a  right  to  pronounce  judgment  on 
a  stage-play,  and  is  convinced  that  that  judg- 
ment is  infallible.  And,  again,  the  dramatist 
runs  the  risk  of  being  misinterpreted,  and  conse- 
quently misunderstood.  His  work,  moreover, 
does  not  find  its  place  on  the  Hbrary  shelf,  and 
is  seldom  read;  but  the  improved  condition  of 
the  Theatre  has  made  the  most  famous  Uterary 
men  of  the  day  anxious  to  identify  their  names 
with  it;  and  let  us  hope  that  this  desire  will 
increase  and  bring  forth  good  fruit  as  matters 
still  further  improve. 

But  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  change 
that  has  come  over  the  condition  of  the  Drama 
is  the  fact  that  there  is  at  last  a  recognised 
social  position  for  the  professional  player. 
Formerly  actors  formed  a  Httle  body  to  them- 
selves. The  Theatrical  Profession  was  con- 
sidered outside,  if  not  beneath,   all  others,  and 


176  THE  KENDALS 

was  regarded  with  something  like  contempt. 
It  was  a  wrong,  a  cruel,  and  an  absurd  state 
of  things,  for  even  then  the  Theatre  was  popular, 
and  was  doing  good  work.  Perhaps  you  may 
remember  Garrick's  famous  reply  to  the  bishop 
who  told  him  that  he  could  not  understand  why 
his  theatre  was  always  full  while  his  church 
was  always  empty.  "  I  think,  my  Lord,"  said 
Garrick,  "it  is  because  I  deal  with  fiction  as 
though  it  were  a  truth,  while  you  preach  the 
truth  as  though  it  were  a  fiction."  Members 
of  all  the  other  professions  were  glad  enough 
to  come  and  amuse  themselves  with  the  out- 
come of  the  actor's  genius  :  his  abihty  was 
recognised;  it  was,  as  it  is  now,  the  subject 
of  universal  conversation  and  of  much  news- 
paper comment ;  but  the  door  of  "  society " 
was  closed  to  him. 

Now  all  that  is  altered. 

The  Theatrical  Profession  is  acknowledged  to 
be  a  high  and  important  one,  and  the  society 
of  the  intelligent  and  cultivated  actor  is  eagerly 
sought  after.  Just  at  present,  indeed,  the  new 
state  of  things,  having  become  universally 
known  and  recognised,  has  become  also  a 
little  embarrassing. 

One  is  always  hearing  or  reading  in  the  papers 


THE  SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGBRSS         177 

that  the  professions  are  "  over- stocked  " — that 
there  are  too  many  clergymen,  too  many  lawyers, 
too  many  doctors — and  the  fact  that  the  terms 
of  actor  and  gentleman  may  now  be  regarded  as 
synonymous  seems  to  have  sent  the  "  over- 
draft "  of  all  these  other  professions  headlong 
on  to  the  stage. 

How  many  younger  sons  of  well-born  but  not 
too  well-to-do  parents  have  hailed  the  present 
social  position  of  the  actor  with  delight !  How 
many  educated  girls,  finding  themselves,  through 
force  of  circumstances,  suddenly  compelled  to 
face  the  world  on  their  own  account,  have 
turned  with  a  sigh  of  rehef  from  the  prospect 
of  the  stereotyped  position  of  "companion" 
or  "governess"  to  the  vista  that  an  honour- 
able connection  with  the  Stage  holds  out  to 
them  !  From  these,  and  from  other  sources,  the 
Theatrical  Profession  also  runs  the  risk  of 
becoming  "over-stocked." 

These  young  aspirants  rush  to  the  Stage  as 
to  a  promised  land.  The  would-be  actors  con- 
gratulate themselves  on  the  fact  that  there 
are  no  "stiff"  examinations  to  pass;  they 
complacently  regard  their  handsome  young 
faces   in   the   looking-glass ;    they   contemplate 

with    satisfaction    the    latest    efforts    of    their 
13 


178  THE   KENDAL S 

West  End  tailors,  and  think  themselves  on  the 
high-road  to  fame  and  fortune. 

A  young  man  of  this  stamp  not  long  ago 
called  upon  a  London  manager,  sent  in  his 
card,  and,  being  admitted  to  his  presence,  in- 
formed him  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
"go  on  the  stage,"  and  was  prepared  to  accept 
an  engagement.  The  manager,  not  unnaturally, 
asked  some  questions  as  to  his  qualifications  for 
the  career  which  he  proposed  for  himself.  "Had 
he  any  experience  as  an  actor  ?  Had  he  studied 
the  dramatic  art  ?  "  "  No,"  was  the  reply,  "but 
he  had  decided  to  'go  on  the  stage,'  and  all 
that  he  wanted  was  an  engagement."  The 
manager  led  him  to  the  door,  and,  returning 
his  card,  pointed  to  a  building  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street.  "That,"  said  he,  "is  a  bank; 
go  and  present  yourself  there.  Say  that,  with- 
out knowing  anything  about  the  business,  you 
have  made  up  your  mind  to  be  a  banker's  clerk, 
and  ask  for  a  situation.  If  you  succeed  in 
getting  one,  come  back  here  and  I  will  engage 
you  as  an  actor."  The  young  gentleman  took 
his  departure,  but  he  did  not  return ! 

The  would-be  actresses  are  more  diffident, 
and  are  certainly  more  disposed  to  devote  heart 
and  soul  to  their  work  ;  but  neither  the  one  nor 


THE  SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGBESS         179 

the  other  has  the  slightest  idea  of  the  amount  of 
study,  of  labour,  and  of  devotion  to  the  art — to 
say  nothing  of  natural  aptitude — that  is  neces- 
sary for  success. 

Another  advance  that  may  be  claimed  for  the 
Drama  in  these  days  of  its  improvement  is  its 
influence  as  a  teacher — for  a  teacher  it  always 
has  been,  and  ever  will  be. 

Temperaments  differ  everywhere,  and  one  of 
the  first  things  that  a  boy  or  girl  has  to  find 
out  is  what  will  exercise  the  greatest  influence 
over  his  or  her  nature.  There  are  many  young 
people  who  are  perfectly  content  and  happy  with 
the  amusements  that  are  afforded  by  study,  by 
a  happy  home  life,  and  by  pleasant  social  inter- 
course ;  but  there  are  also  many  who  require  a 
Httle  more  than  this,  and  who  can  only  show 
what  is  best  in  their  undeveloped  natures  under 
the  influence  of  an  appeal  to  their  imaginations. 
These  rush  to  the  Drama  as  the  thirsty  wayfarer 
rushes  to  the  cooling  brooklet. 

How  important  it  is,  therefore,  that  the 
draught  should  be  pure,  that  the  refreshment 
should  be  really  wholesome  and  useful !  It  is 
quite  certain  that  many  hundreds— nay,  thou- 
sands— of  people  have  been  influenced  for  good 
or  for  evil   by  what  they  have  seen  portrayed 


180  THE  KENDALS 

upon  the  stage.  Those  who  go  to  the  the  tre 
with  the  capabihty  of  weeping  over  scenes  in 
which  honest  self-sacrifice  is  depicted  ;  of  being 
aroused  to  enthusiasm  over  the  success  of  manly 
effort  or  womanly  devotion  ;  or  of  feeling  genuine 
contempt  for  the  portrayal  of  meanness,  treachery, 
and  snobbery,  will  come  away  from  a  good  play, 
well  acted,  having  learnt  a  lesson  and  gained  an 
experience  that  will  probably  be  remembered 
with  advantage  throughout  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  A  pure  Stage  is  likely  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  a  pure  people,  and  its  influence 
from  this  point  of  view  can  hardly  be  over- 
estimated. 

It  is  worth  while  here,  perhaps,  to  look  upon 
the  influence  that  the  Dramatic  Art  has  upon 
those  most  intimately  associated  with  it.  The 
playing  of  many  parts  naturally  gives  to  the 
actor  and  actress  a  curious  insight  into  the 
sentiments  and  passions  that  sway  and  bias 
human  nature.  The  earnest  actor,  who  has 
heart  and  soul  in  his  work,  and  conscientiously 
studies  the  various  parts  he  is  called  upon  to 
play,  is  compelled  to  think,  more  than  the  mere 
man  of  business,  of  human  strength  and  weak- 
ness, of  hate  and  love,  of  joy  and  sorrow;  for 
in  their  turn  he  has  to  portray  them  all,  and, 


THE  SOCIAL  SCIENCE   CONGRESS         181 

to  judge  by  results,  the  effect  upon  his  nature 
is  to  make  him  ver}^  charitable. 

Where,  I  may  safely  ask,  is  charity  more 
openly  or  more  cheerfully  practised  than  among 
the  members  of  the  Theatrical  Profession?  I 
do  not  allude  to  mere  almsgiving — the  readiness 
with  which  an  actor  will  help  a  comrade  who 
has  fallen  by  the  way  has  become  proverbial ; 
but  to  charity  of  a  very  different  and  more 
valuable  kind. 

Clergymen  preach  forgiveness  ;  but  they  do 
not  welcome  among  their  own  body  men  whose 
names  are  identified  with  a  stormy  past,  but 
who  would  gladly  do  useful  work  in  a  peaceful 
future.  Lawyers  have  to  do  with  justice  ;  but 
they  look  with  wary  eye  on  those  who  have 
once  tripped,  and  conscientiously  warn  their 
clients  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  such  easily 
misled  and  consequently  dangerous  creatures. 
Doctors  practise  the  healing  art ;  but  their 
nostrums  are  for  broken  bones  and  bodily  hurts  : 
they  have  no  salve  for  the  weary  mind  or  the 
lacerated  heart. 

The  Theatrical  Profession,  on  the  other  hand, 
offers  chances  to  all  men  and  women,  no  matter 
what  their  past  has  been  ;  and  it  is  in  this  w^ay 
that  I  maintain  it  to  be  a  more  charitable  one 


182  THE  KENDALS 

than  any  other.  A  sad  and  undeserved  conse- 
quence of  this  is,  that  actors  are  Hable  to  suffer 
as  a  body  for  the  very  charities  they  so  un- 
selfishly practise,  for  they  give  the  outside 
world  opportunities  of  indulging  in  that  scandal 
about  the  Stage  which  apparently  forms  one  of 
its  chief  delights.  The  puritanical-minded 
point  to  some  too  well-known  ''backslider" 
who  is  endeavouring  to  earn  a  living  in  a 
theatre,  lift  up  their  pious  hands  in  horror,  and 
condemn  the  whole  profession.  It  would  be 
well,  indeed,  if  these  worthy  people  would  take 
the  trouble  to  look  a  little  further  into  the 
matter,  and  ascertain  how  cruelly  unjust  such 
condemnation  is. 

In  all  these  things — and  if  time  permitted  I 
could  mention  many  more — the  Drama,  it  may 
be  safely  maintained,  has  not  only  held  its 
ground,  but  improved.  But  I  am  now  quite 
half-way  through  the  time  allotted  by  the  Social 
Science  Association  for  my  paper,  and  I  must 
turn  to  the  other  side  of  the  question,  and  tell 
you  in  what  ways  the  Drama  of  the  present 
day  has  deteriorated,  and,  unless  actors  and 
actresses  will  be  true  to  themselves  and  the 
honourable  profession  that  they  follow,  is  likely 
still  further  to  deteriorate. 


THE   SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGRESS         183 

No  true  lover  of  the  Dramatic  Art  can  look 
with  satisfaction  on  the  many  ways  in  which  it 
is  now  advertised.  Neither  the  painter  nor  the 
poet  thinks  it  advisable  to  fill  the  colmiins  of 
the  daily  papers  with  the  monotonous  repetition 
of  what  this  or  that  critic  has  said  of  his  work, 
or  to  keep  his  name  constantly,  and  with  weari- 
some persistency,  before  the  public.  The  extent 
to  which  some  carry  out  this  system,  and  the 
pains  taken  over  it,  is  simply  bej^ond  all  descrip- 
tion. An  insatiable  thirst  for  newspaper  para- 
graphs is  always  tormenting  them,  and  in  every 
action  of  their  lives  the  thought  of  "  How  will 
that  advertise  me  ?  "  or,  "  How  can  I  use  this 
as  an  advertisement?"  is  predominant.  With 
people  thus  constituted  even  affliction  is  turned 
to  what  they  consider  profitable  account,  and  at 
a  dull  period  an  illness  is  regarded  as  a  positive 
boon. 

This  absurd  mania  seems  to  be  in  a  great 
measure,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  pecuhar  to  the 
members  of  the  Theatrical  Profession,  and  it 
assuredly  does  not  add  to  their  dignity.  It  is 
done  in  manifold  ways — in  what  are  known  as 
"  receptions "  at  theatres,  in  railway  station 
"demonstrations,"  by  photography,  and  by 
speech-making,  and  one  and  all  are  degrading 


184  THE  KENDALS 

to  the  Drama.  As  a  cloak  for  incapability  such 
means  may  be  excusable,  but  true  art  in  every 
branch  advertises  itself.  Advertising  nowadays 
is  an  art,  but  it  is  not  the  art  of  acting. 

This  state  of  things  has  given  rise  to  a 
flippant  and  what  may  be  termed  "personal" 
style  of  theatrical  journalism  which  is  greatly 
to  be  deplored,  and  should  certainly  be  dis- 
couraged. The  so-called  theatrical  papers,  in 
w^hich  the  leading  artists  of  the  Stage  are  alluded 
to  by  their  Christian  names,  and  where  insolent 
and  generally  untrue  gossip  and  tittle-tattle 
take  the  place  of  honest  criticism,  are  absolutely 
debasing  to  the  profession.  The  unfortunate 
outcome  of  all  this  is,  that  the  artist's  capa- 
bility or,  more  properly  speaking,  "popularity," 
is  too  often  gauged  by  the  amount  of  publicity 
that  is  given  to  every  little  action  of  his  or  her 
life.  An  unthinking  section  of  the  public  is 
hungry  for  news  of  this  description,  and  incom- 
petent but  "knowing"  actors  and  their  managers 
take  advantage  of  it. 

Another  way  in  which  the  Drama  has  cer- 
tainly deteriorated  is  the  style  of  play  that  now 
attracts  popular  audiences.  Our  forefathers 
could  laugh  heartily  over  a  good  farce,  but  the 
staple  fare  of  the  evening  had  to  be  the  serious 


THE   SOCIAL    SCIENCE   CONGEE SS         185 

or  poetical  Drama,  in  which  some  good  moral 
would  be  pointed  out,  and  literary  merit  would 
be  looked  for  and  found.  At  the  present  time, 
however,  audiences  enjo}^  a  whole  evening  of 
farce,  and  farce  of  a  very  remarkable  nature. 
What,  in  reality,  can  be  a  more  painful  spectacle 
than  that  of  an  innocent  and  unsuspecting  wife 
being  hoodwinked  and  deceived  by  a  graceless 
and  profligate  husband?  Years  ago  it  would 
have  formed  the  groundwork  of  a  very  pathetic 
play,  if  not  of  a  tragedy  ;  but  now  it  is  a  never- 
failing  source  of  delight  to  the  lover  of  elongated 
farce ;  and  the  greater  the  innocence  of  the 
wife,  and  the  more  outrageous  the  misconduct 
of  the  husband,  the  louder  are  the  shrieks  of 
laughter  with  which  their  misunderstandings 
are  received. 

For  this,  alas  !  we  have  to  thank  our  French 
friends;  and  the  "  suggestiveness "  which  per- 
vades the  dialogue  of  too  many  modern  plays  is 
another  foreign  importation  that  might  very  well 
be  spared.  That  most  of  the  old  plays  were 
indelicate  is  a  matter  of  fact,  but  they  were  a 
reflection  of  the  times  in  which  they  were 
produced.  In  those  days  a  spade  was  called  a 
spade,  and  plain  speaking  was  not  only  tolerated 
but  expected.     That  disagreeable  "suggestion" 


186  THE  KENDALS 

should  have  taken  the  place  of  downright  coarse- 
ness is  a  bad  sign  of  the  taste  of  the  modern 
playgoer.  Of  course  there  are  very  clever  and 
very  amusing  pieces  of  this  order,  but  their 
success  has  given  rise  to  a  host  of  vulgar  and 
clumsy  imitations  which,  while  attracting 
audiences,  certainly  do  no  credit  to  the  English 
Stage. 

In  what  is  known  as  burlesque,  too,  the 
modern  Theatre  has  decidedly  deteriorated. 
Genuine  travesty  and  pantomime  are  distinct 
and  recognised  branches  of  the  Dramatic  Art ; 
but  although  some  good  burlesque  pieces,  in 
which  witty  authors  and  clever  actors  unite  to 
create  a  hearty,  wholesome,  and  good-humoured 
laugh,  are  happily  produced  from  time  to  time, 
the  so-called  burlesque  with  which  the  modern 
playgoer  is  familiar,  and  which,  it  must  be 
owned,  he  seems  to  enjoy,  is  not  a  very  high- 
toned  entertainment.  I  am  sure  that  if  fanciful 
children  were  taken  to  these  pieces,  it  would  be 
a  real  source  of  sorrow  to  them  to  see  such 
trusted  friends  as  "AH  Baba,"  "Aladdin," 
"Eobin  Hood,"  "  Eobinson  Crusoe,"  "  Sinbad 
the  Sailor,"  and  a  host  of  others,  treated  so 
badly. 

No  one  in  his  senses  can  blame  managers  or 


THE  SOCIAL   SCIENCE  CONGRESS         187 

actors  for  catering  for  this  section  of  the  play- 
going  pubHc.  A  demand  naturally  induces  a 
supply,  and  if  Dramatic  Art  has  deteriorated  in 
this  direction,  the  public,  and  not  the  profession, 
is  to  blame. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  Press  of  the  present 
day  does  all  that  it  might  do  for  the  true  welfare 
of  the  Drama.  Existing  critics  generally  rush 
into  extremes,  and  either  OA^er-praise  or  too 
cruelly  condemn.  The  public,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  turns  to  the  newspapers  for  information. 
And  how  can  any  judgment  be  formed  when 
either  indiscriminate  praise  or  unquaHfied  abuse 
is  given  to  almost  every  new  piece  that  is  brought 
out?  Criticism,  if  it  is  to  be  worth  anything, 
should  surely  be  "  criticism  "  ;  but  nowadays  the 
writing  of  a  picturesque  article,  replete  with 
eulogy  or  the  reverse,  seems  to  be  the  aim  of 
the  theatrical  re^newer. 

Of  course  the  influence  of  the  Press  upon  the 
Stage  is  very  powerful,  but  it  will  cease  to  be  so 
if  playgoers  find  that  their  mentors,  the  critics, 
are  not  trustworthy  guides.  The  pubHc,  after 
all,  must  decide  the  fate  of  a  new  play.  If  it 
be  bad  the  Englishman  of  to-day  will  not  declare 
that  it  is  good  because  the  newspapers  have  told 
him   so.     He  will  be  disappointed,  he  will   be 


188  THE  KENDALS 

bored,  he  will  tell  his  friends,  and  the  bad  piece 
will  fail  to  draw  audiences. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  play  is  a  good  one 
which  has  been  condemned  by  the  Press,  it  will 
quicken  the  pulse  and  stir  the  heart  of  an 
audience  in  spite  of  adverse  criticism  ;  the  report 
that  it  contains  the  true  ring  will  go  about,  and 
success  must  follow.  In  a  word,  though  the 
Press  can  do  very  much  to  further  the  interests 
of  the  Stage,  it  is  powerless  to  kill  good  work, 
and  it  cannot  galvanise  that  which  is  inverte- 
brate into  life.  Too  many  notices  are,  it  is  to 
be  feared,  written  "to  order,"  and  the  writer 
who  has  declined  to  praise  an  unsuccessful  actor 
has  been  known  to  lose  his  post ;  but  let  us  hope 
that  this  unjust  state  of  affairs,  together  with  the 
"chicken  and  champagne,"  of  which  we  have 
heard  so  much,  is  a  thing  of  the  past. 

And  here,  I  think,  attention  may  be  suitably 
called  to  a  duty  that  the  pubhc  undoubtedly 
owes  to  itself  in  this  matter  of  criticism,  and 
that  is,  that  it  should  judge  for  itself,  and  not 
pin  a  blind  faith  on  all  that  is  told  it.  It  is  too 
true  that  if  playgoers  are  told  that  a  thing  is 
good  they  are  quite  prepared  to  accept  it  as 
such,  without  taking  the  trouble  to  find  out 
whether  they  have  been  rightly  or  wrongly  in- 


THE  SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGRESS         189 

formed.  Thus  many  plays  and  many  actors  and 
actresses  are  accepted  and  praised  because  the 
critics  have  dechired  them  to  be  good.  The  fact 
is,  the  pubhc  does  not  judge  for  itself,  but  is 
influenced  and  led  by  "  fashion." 

Actors  nowadays  seem  to  be  judged  by  every- 
thing except  by  the  art  they  follow,  and  I 
maintain  that  this  state  of  things  is  peculiar 
to  the  Theatrical  Profession.  Clergymen  become 
popular  because  they  preach  good  sermons ; 
lawyers  have  good  practices  because  they  advise 
their  chents  well ;  doctors  increase  the  number 
of  their  patients  in  proportion  to  their  profes- 
sional skill ;  surely,  then,  actors  should  be  suc- 
cessful and  popular  in  accordance  with  the  talent 
with  which  they  act.  But  acting  seems  to  have 
something  akin  to  "  Parr's  Life  Pills "  and 
"  Hollo  way's  Ointment."  By  advertising  these 
commodities  large  fortunes  were  made,  and  it  is 
the  actor  who  lets  the  public  know,  through  the 
newspapers,  everything  that  he  does,  from  the 
entertainments  that  he  gives  to  his  friends  and 
admirers,  down  to  the  goose  that  he  sends  his 
gasman  at  Christmas,  that  seems  to  get  the 
largest  following.  "Bunkum"  of  this  descrip- 
tion has  of  late  years  been  practised  to  an  extent 
which   is   absolutely   nauseating ;    and   all   this 


190  THE  KENDALS 

proves  that  there  is  "  something  rotten  in  the 
state  of  Denmark." 

A  complaint  is  constantly  being  made  that 
the  moral  tone  of  the  Drama  of  the  present  day 
is  not  so  high  as  it  undoubtedly  should  be ;  but 
for  this  playgoers  are  to  blame,  for  they  run  after 
notoriety,  and  notoriety  alone.  This  may  seem 
a  strong  accusation,  but  is  it  not  true  ?  When 
men  and  women  have  done  wrong  and  take  to 
the  Stage,  is  it  not  a  fact  that  (provided  the 
wrong-doing  has  been  made  sufficiently  public) 
brisk  business  may  be  expected  at  the  booking- 
office  ?  This,  I  maintain,  never  was  in  the  old 
days,  and  proves  to-day  the  degradation  of  our 
Stage. 

Some  critics  hold  that  men  and  women  cannot 
properly  act  noble  and  virtuous  characters  unless 
they  themselves  have  led  spotless  lives.  I  do 
not  go  so  far  as  this,  but  I  do  maintain  that  it  is 
pleasanter  to  think  that  when  the  curtain  has 
fallen,  and  the  actor  or  actress  is  at  home,  he  or 
she  leads,  or  is  capable  of  leading,  the  same 
kind  of  life  the  representation  of  which  has 
moved  an  audience  to  sympathetic  tears  ;  and 
certainly  it  can  be  no  drawback  if,  while  ad- 
miring the  artist,  the  playgoer  can  at  the  same 
time  respect  the  man  or  woman. 


THE   SOCIAL  SCIENCE   CONGRESS         191 

Surely,  then,  it  is  more  than  a  necessity  that 
actors  and  actresses  of  position,  who  have  the 
true  interest  of  their  noble  art  in  view,  should 
make  their  lives  an  example  to  those  with  whom 
they  are  associated,  and  to  those  who  are  to 
come  after  them.  By  this  means,  and  by  this 
means  only,  can  the  Theatrical  Profession  expect 
to  maintain  its  dignity  and  to  secure  the  high 
position  it  should  hold  in  the  estimation  of  the 
public.  It  behoves  actors  and  actresses  of  every 
degree,  while  cultivating  their  talents  to  elevate 
and  amuse,  to  lead  such  lives  that  those  who 
have  regarded  the  Stage  with  a  suspicious  eye 
will  at  last  give  it  its  proper  place  in  the  world 
of  Art. 

Time  will  not  allow  me  to  say  more.  The 
Drama  has  an  interesting,  nay,  to  some  of  us  a 
fascinating  Past.  It  rests  with  those  who  make 
it  a  profession,  and  the  ever-increasing  public 
that  supports  it,  to  secure  for  it  a  useful,  an 
elevating,  and  a  glorious  Future. 

At  its  conclusion  the  applause  was  prolonged 
and  emphatic,  and  every  one  agreed  when  Mr. 
Shaw-Lefevre,  in  proposing  a  vote  of  thanks  to 
Mrs.  Kendal,  said — 

"  The  paper  has  been  a  treat  and  a  lesson. 


192  THE   KENDALS 

Never  was  a  paper  read  with  more  charraing 
delicacy  of  manner.  It  was  said  of  Garrick 
that  on  the  stage  he  was  natural,  simple,  un- 
affected ;  it  was  only  when  he  was  off  the  stage 
that  he  was  acting.  Mrs.  Kendal's  charm  was 
that  on  the  stage  and  on  the  platform  she  was 
the  same.  If  she  had  any  art  she  had  the 
highest  art,  namely,  that  of  completely  con- 
ceahng  it.  He  hoped  she  might  never  have  a 
less  appreciative  audience  than  the  present,  or 
a  less-crowded  house." 

Indeed  that  day  Mrs.  Kendal  was  the  re- 
cipient of  a  chorus  of  congratulation  from 
troops  of  sincere  friends  and  hundreds  of  ardent 
admirers. 

Naturally  anxious  to  know  that  my  friend's 
achievement  was  properly  reviewed  in  the  Press, 
I  turned  eagerly  to  the  next  day's  newspapers. 
The  first  two  that  I  opened  told  me  how  well 
her  mark  had  been  made. 

Said  the  one  : — 

"  It  is  not  often  that  the  imaginative  and  the 
critical  faculties  are  united  in  a  high  degree  by 
the  same  individual.  A  good  painter  is  too 
often  a  very  indifferent  art  critic ;  the  judgment 
of  a  musician  on  a  brother  musician's  work  is 
rarely  free  from  bias ;  and  the  last  person,  as  a 


THE  SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGRESS         193 

rule,  to  whom  we  should  think  of  applying  for  a 
judicial   opinion   on   the   modern  stage  and  its 
influences   is   a    courted   and    popular    actress. 
Mrs.  Kendal,  however,  who  is  the  honourable  ex- 
ception to  so  many  rules  of  the  profession  which 
she  adorns,  yesterday  established  her  title  to  an 
exceptional  position  in  yet  another  respect,  and 
furnished  new  proof  of    her   versatility   by  the 
able,  thoughtful,   and  judicious  paper  on  'The 
Drama  '  which  she  read  in  the  Art  Section  of 
the  Social  Science  Congress.     The  subject  is  a 
rather  big  one  to  be  discussed  in  a  single  paper, 
however  masterly,  but  Mrs.  Kendal  wisely  con- 
fined herself  to  a  few  practical  phases  or  aspects 
which    had   forced    themselves  upon   her   con- 
sideration in  the  course  of  her  busy  career,  and 
her   remarks   therefore  were   not  at   all  of  the 
speculative  or   theoretical   character   for   those 
which  are  commonly  thought  adequate  of  the 
theme.     Starting  with    the    undeniable    propo- 
sition that  there  never  was  a   time  when  the 
theatre   in   this   country  was   more   popular  or 
powerful  in  its  influence  than  it  is  now,  the  fair 
lecturer  proceeded  to  show  that  if  in  one  sense 
the  Drama   had  deteriorated — as   we   are    con- 
stantly assured  by  the  laudator  tempores  acti — 
in  another  it  has  unquestionably  improved,  and 
14 


194  THE  KENDALS 

there  is  real  matter  for  congratulation  in  the 
fact  that  this  improvement  has  not  been  con- 
fined to  the  Stage  but  extends  to  the  playgoers, 
who  are  no  longer  the  drunken,  disorderly,  dis- 
solute, rowdy  lot  to  whom  the  actors  were 
compelled  to  play  in  the  palmy  days  of  the 
Eestoration." 

The  other  paper  told  me : — 

"  Mrs.  Kendal's  dShut  before  the  Social  Science 
Congress  was  a  success.  Her  paper  on  '  The 
Drama '  was  read  before  an  appreciative  audi- 
ence, and  it  deserved  the  appreciation  it  received. 
Eloquent  in  language  and  able  in  thought,  the 
paper  was  the  success  of  the  Congress.  Then, 
too,  it  was  read  well.  Most  of  the  papers  and 
many  of  the  speeches  at  the  present  Congress 
were  singularly  unfortunate  in  being  read  and 
made  by  persons  utterly  unfit,  from  an  elocu- 
tionary point  of  view,  to  address  an  audience. 
Much  has  been  said  in  the  Art  Section  about  the 
effect  on  the  voice  of  proper  training.  Would 
that  the  training  had  been  undergone  by  those 
who  have  read  papers  and  made  speeches  during 
the  sitting  of  the  present  Congress  !  Mrs.  Kendal 
was  an  example  to  all.  Her  voice  was  clear  and 
well  heard,  her  articulation  plain,  and  the  effect 
perfect." 


THE   SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGRESS         195 

Such  was  the  tone  taken  by  all  the  leading 
daily  papers  of  September  24,  1884,  and  Mrs. 
Kendal  and  her  clever  Social  Science  paper  were 
the  talk  of  the  hour.  I  hope  I  may  be  permitted 
to  quote  from  one  more  of  the  many  leading 
articles  that  appeared,  that  of  the  critical  and 
careful  Standard  : — 

"  A  discourse  on  theatrical  subjects,"  said  that 
authority,  "by  one  of  our  most  eminent  and 
most  favourite  actresses  would  be  sure  anywhere 
to  attract  a  large  audience,  and  it  is  scarcely 
astonishing  therefore  to  read  in  the  reports  of 
yesterday's  Social  Science  Congress  that  the 
meetings  of  the  other  departments  were  deferred 
in  order  to  give  everybody  an  opportunity  of 
hearing  Mrs.  Kendal.  The  interest  felt  before- 
hand in  Mrs.  Kendal's  lecture  was  quite  justified 
by  what  she  actually  said.  This  talented  actress 
has  had  the  opportunity  of  studying  the  Stage 
from  more  than  one  point  of  view.  She  has  for 
a  good  many  years — indeed,  ever  since  her  first 
appearance  in  public — been  one  of  the  most 
popular  members  of  her  profession  ;  she  is  the 
sister  of  the  late  Mr.  Kobertson,  one  of  the  most 
successful  dramatists  of  his  time,  and  she  is  the 
wife  of  a  highly  esteemed  actor.  She  has  had 
experience,    too,  in  managing   theatres,  and  it 


196  THE  KENDALS 

must  be  assumed  that  she  from  time  to  time 
goes  to  the  play  on  her  own  account  to  view  the 
audience  from  what  is  called  the  '  front  of  the 
house.'  She  treated  her  subject,  then,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  in  a  very  comprehensive 
manner;  her  remarks  were  nearly  always 
judicious,  and  often  exceedingly  happy  ;  while 
her  general  conclusion  that  the  Drama  is  in 
a  more  fortunate  condition  now  than  at  any 
recent  period  of  its  history,  is  one  that  nobody 
with  any  knowledge  of  the  matter  can  well 
contradict." 

Then,  a  little  later,  the  caustic  Saturday 
Beview  said  : — 

"It  is  no  disparagement  to  the  lively  paper 
on  '  The  Drama,'  read  by  Mrs.  Kendal  the 
other  day  at  the  Social  Science  Congress,  to  say 
that  its  contents  were  altogether  surpassed  in 
curiosity  and  interest  by  the  circumstances  of 
its  authorship  and  recital.  Nothing  that  the 
accomplished  actress  has  to  tell  us  as  to  the 
change  which  has  taken  place  in  the  external 
conditions  under  which  her  art  is  nowadaj^s 
practised  could  half  so  appropriately — or,  in  other 
words,  so  dramatically — have  illustrated  her  point 
as  the  mere  fact  that  she  herself  was  playing  the 
part  of   instructress   to   the  public  at  a  Social 


THE   SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGRESS         197 

Science  Congress.  Imagination  loses  itself  in 
wondering  amusement  in  the  attempt  to  realise 
what  would  have  been  thought  of  the  scene  and 
its  surroundings  by  any  of  Mrs.  Kendal's  famous 
predecessors  of  a  hundred  or  even  fifty  years  ago. 
One  is  afraid  they  would  have  been  a  little 
scandalised  by  it,  though  that  of  course  would 
be  their  fault,  and  due  entirely  to  the  fact  that 
such  notions  as  they  had  of  the  dignity,  not  of 
their  calling — for,  as  such,  it  had  none — but  of 
their  craft,  their  "  mystery,"  so  to  speak,  were 
utterly  at  variance  with  our  own  more  enlight- 
ened ideas. 

"  Mrs.  Kendal  treated  her  theme  as  might 
have  been  expected,  that  is  to  say,  with  the 
cleverness  of  a  clever  woman,  endowed  like 
most  other  clever  women  with  an  intelligence  of 
the  acute  rather  than  of  the  reflective  order,  and, 
in  consequence,  far  better  worth  listening  to — 
as,  for  that  matter,  are  most  instructors  of  the 
stronger  sex — when  recording  the  results  of 
personal  observation,  than  when  attempting  to 
generalise  from  them.  Her  paper  was  of  exceed- 
ingly comprehensive  scope,  and  left  scarcely  any 
side  of  the  subject  untouched.  The  improvement 
in  scenic  representation,  the  rise  of  the  actor  in 
social   esteem,  the  present  position  of  English 


198  THE  KENDALS 

dramatic  criticism,  and  dramatic  literature  in 
general,  and  last,  but  not  least,  our  old  friend 
the  moral  influence  of  the  Drama,  were  all 
successively  passed  in  review.  It  is,  of  course, 
obvious  enough  that  the  lady  speaks  with  quite 
a  different  kind  of  authority  on  the  two  former 
of  these  questions  from  any  she  can  claim  with 
respect  to  the  latter.  She  has  an  expert's 
acquaintance  with  stage  management,  and  no 
one  could  be  better  qualified  to  review  the 
advance  of  the  dramatic  artist  in  social  con- 
sideration than  one  who  in  her  own  person 
so  gracefully  and  deservedly  illustrates  it." 

Coming  from  high  sources,  all  this,  and  much 
more  to  the  same  effect  was,  and  happily 
remains,  very  satisfactory ;  but  soon,  to  the 
intense  amazement  of  Mrs.  Kendal  and  her 
friends,  there  arose  a  flutter  in  certain  theatrical 
dovecots  the  like  of  which  had  never  been 
known. 

As  I  have  pointed  out,  Mrs.  Kendal's  one 
object  in  accepting  the  invitation  of  the  Social 
Science  Congress  was  to  be  obliging,  and  to  give 
an  address  that  would  be  at  once  useful  and 
lively.  No  doubt  it  dealt  with  the  little  weak- 
nesses of  her  profession  (what  calling  under  the 
sun  has  not  got  its  little  weaknesses?),  but  she 


THE  SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGBESS         199 

never  anticipated  the  publicity  that  would  be 
given  to  it,  and  it  was  far  from  her  thoughts  to 
wound  the  feelings  of  any  of  her  fellow-players. 
That  I  hioiv  !  But  some  of  the  denizens  of  the 
aforesaid  dovecots  fell  foul  of  every  word  she 
said,  and  looking  at  things  by  the  light  of  to-day, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  in  doing  so  they 
fouled  their  own  nests.  They  looked  for  points 
in  the  poor  paper  as  though  they  were  searching 
for  rusty  needles  in  bundles  of  mouldy  hay. 
According  to  them,  everything  in  the  address 
was  "personal,"  and  was  meant  to  be  personal, 
and  the  supposed  targets  for  Mrs.  Kendal's 
imaginary  arrows  were  (probably  to  their  very 
great  annoyance)  freely  pointed  out  by  these 
"  good-natured  "  busybodies. 

And  what  did  they  find  to  carp  at,  these 
searchers  for  poison  in  Mrs.  Kendal's  innocuous 
address  ? — searchers  as  keen  as  the  anti- 
vaccinators  who  not  only  look  for,  but  absolutely 
hail,  virus  on  the  physician's  lancet  ?  Mrs. 
Kendal  had  cheerfully  given  the  Bancrofts  the 
credit  for  being  the  first  to  study  the  comfort  of 
the  actors  and  actresses  engaged  at  their  theatre ; 
she  had  stated  her  belief  that  charity  was 
nowhere  more  openly  or  more  cheerfully  practised 
than  among  the  members  of  her  profession ;  and 


200  THE   KENDALS 

she  had  spoken  of  the  tolerance  given  in 
it  to  all  men  and  women,  no  matter  what  their 
past  had  been,  who  sought  employment  on 
the  stage — a  tolerance  that  is  not  too  freely 
exercised  in  the  world  at  large.  She  had 
been  generous,  nay,  she  had  been  urgent  in 
claiming  sympathy  for  her  calling,  and  those 
who  followed  it. 

But  on  the  other  side  of  the  page  she  had  (in 
all  good-humour)  suggested  that  theatrical  folk 
were  rather  too  prone  to  advertisement — that 
some  writers  were  wont  to  deal  with  their  art 
from  a  flippant  point  of  view  ;  that  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  public  in  their  insatiable  thirst  for 
the  latest  theatrical  news  deliberately  encour- 
aged this  condition  of  things  ;  that  some  modern 
three-act  farces  were  in  their  "  suggestiveness  " 
really  coarser  than  the  old  comedies  that  reflected 
the  manners  of  a  period  at  which  our  "  end-of- 
the-century  "  people  affected  to  be  shocked  ;  that 
burlesque  had  deteriorated  into  mere  spectacle 
and  flabbiness ;  that  critics  were  inclined  to  be 
biassed  ;  that  playgoers  were  to  blame  for  running 
after  notoriety ;  and  that  the  members  of  her 
profession  would  do  well  to  uphold  its  dignity. 
Unconsciously  she  was  repeating  those  views  of 
her  father  which  at  the  commencement  of  this 


THE   SOCIAL   SCIENCE   CONGRESS         201 

volume  I  have  recorded,  but  with  which  I  beUeve 
she  was  unfamiliar. 

Of  all  these  harmlessly  expressed  and  broad 
opinions  a  set  of  curiously  irritable  people  made 
brick  walls  against  which  to  knock  their  supposed 
to  be  sore,  and  certainly  thick,  heads.  They 
managed  to  get  a  hearing,  and  their  plaintive, 
unnecessary,  and  at  last  exasperating  yelpings 
went  up  as  do  the  howls  of  a  dog  to  a  shining 
and  beneficent  moon. 

Unluckily  these  poor  envious  creatures  who 
(just  Hke  our  friends  the  moon-hating  dogs) 
seemed,  for  no  reason  whatever,  "  sorry  for 
themselves,"  received  encouragement  from  high 
quarters.  In  one  influential  journal  that  ought 
to  have  known — and  must  have  known — better, 
appeared  the  following  terrible  and  unjust  indict- 
ment : — 

"I  do  not  think  that  the  members  of  the 
theatrical  profession,  or  indeed  any  persons  con- 
cerned in  the  inner  life  of  the  theatrical  world, 
would  agree  with  Mr.  Shaw-Lefevre  that  Mrs. 
Kendal  in  her  recent  address  had  concealed  her 
art.  By  the  initiated  the  artless  artfulness  of 
the  lecturer  is  fully  appreciated  ;  every  cap 
fitted,  every  stab  noted,  every  bitter  blow,  every 
sly  thrust  traced  to  the  head  or  heart  for  which 


202  THE   KENDALS 

it  was  intended.  '  She  left  not  Lancelot  brave 
nor  Galahad  clean.'  The  insinuations  scattered 
broadcast  by  this  respectable  Yivien  are  all- 
reaching." 

Never  was  there  such  a  grossly  untrue  charge 
made,  but  it  set  a  baying  pack  upon  the  trail, 
actuated  probably  more  by  the  sport  and  publicity 
of  the  thing  than  by  any  real  animosity  against 
the  unoffending  quarry.  It  would  be  useless  as 
well  as  tedious  to  revive  all  the  baseless  and 
vulgarly  expressed  innuendoes  that  were  made, 
but  the  undignified  "  Bank  Holiday  "  chase 
culminated  when  Mr.  Kendal,  unable  to  keep 
silent  any  longer,  wrote  to  say  that  his  wife's 
allusion  to  advertisement  by  illness  had  no 
reference  to  any  special  actor  or  actress,  and 
was  bluntly  told  that  no  one  would  believe 
him ! 

That  it  was  untvae^uttedy  untrue — all  those 
who  were  behind  the  scenes  of  that  innocent 
Social  Science  address  could  have  sworn,  but 
brave  Mrs.  Kendal  insisted  upon  taking  the 
unexpected  and  unmerited  blame  on  her  own 
shoulders,  and,  in  spite  of  urgent  offers,  would 
allow  no  one  to  come  forward  in  her  defence. 
The  consciousness  of  her  own  blamelessness  no 
doubt  spared  her  real  pain,  but  the  venomous 


THE   SOCIAL    SCIENCE    CONGBESS         203 

stings  of  her  coarse  assailants  must  have  caused 
irritation.  In  the  pathetic  words  of  King  Lear 
she  might  have  said — 

"  The  little  dogs  and  all, 
Tray,  Blanch,  and  Sweetheart,  see  they  bark  at  me." 

But  she  preserved  her  dignified  silence  until  the 
angry  storm  had  passed  away,  barely  leaving 
behind  it  the  mud  of  its  own  making. 

But  there  were  some  of  us  who  remembered 
how  Charles  Dickens  boiled  over  with  indignation 
at  what  he  considered  to  be  an  unwarranted 
attack  on  a  private  reputation.  "When  I 
think,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  the  great  actor 
Macready,  "  that  every  dirty  speck  upon  the  fair 
face  of  the  Almighty's  creation  who  writes  in  a 
filthy,  beastly  newspaper;  every  rotten-hearted 
panderer  who  has  been  beaten,  kicked,  and  rolled 
in  the  kennel,  yet  struts  it  in  the  editorial  '  We  ' 
once  a  week;  every  vagabond  that  an  honest 
man's  gorge  must  rise  at ;  every  living  emetic  in 
that  noxious  drug-shop,  the  Press,  can  have  his 
fling  at  such  men  and  call  them  knaves  and  fools 
and  thieves — I  grow  so  vicious  that  with  bearing 
hard  upon  my  pen  I  break  the  nib  down,  and 
with  keeping  my  teeth  set  make  my  jaws  ache." 

Dickens  when  he  was  excited   always  wrote 


204  THE   KENDAL  S 

over-strongly,  and  probably  in  quieter  moments 
would  have  acknowledged  that  he  hardly  meant 
all  that  he  said ;  but  it  is  a  fact  that  a  certain 
class  of  pressmen  do  not  realise  the  trouble 
caused  by  their  thoughtlessly  written  diatribes. 
On  the  other  hand  it  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  personal  paragraphs  about  actors  and 
actresses  that  constantly  appear  in  papers,  and 
which  to  some  members  of  the  dramatic  pro- 
fession are  so  objectionable,  would  never  be 
written  if  a  prying  public  did  not  clamour  for 
them. 

In  his  "  Eoundabout  Papers"  Thackeray  laid 
down  the  golden  rule  for  journalists.  "Ah  !  ye 
knights  of  the  pen,"  he  said,  "  may  honour  be 
your  shield,  and  truth  tip  your  lances !  Be 
gentle  to  all  gentle  people.  Be  modest  to 
women.  Be  tender  to  children.  And  as  for  the 
ogre  humbug,  out  sword,  and  have  at  him  !  " 

No  one  accused  Mrs.  Kendal  of  "  humbug," 
but  the  steel  that  was  unsheathed  against  her 
was  intended  to  wound  her  to  the  heart.  With 
the  memory  of  all  this  in  view,  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at  if  in  later  days  she  said  some 
trenchant  things  concerning  journalism  ? 


CHAPTER   VIII 

>Sr.  JAMES'S  THEATRE,  1884-1888 

TjlOR  a  long  time  there  had  been  talk  of  a 
-■-  sumptuous  revival  of  "As  You  Like  It"  at 
the  St.  James's,  and  in  the  January  of  1885, 
after  much  earnest  thought  and  careful  prepara- 
tion, it  was  presented.  Probably  Shakespeare's 
beautiful  pastoral  comedy  has  never  been  so  per- 
fectly staged.  The  picture  of  the  lawn  before 
Duke  Frederick's  palace,  in  which  the  wrestling 
bout  took  place,  was  perfect  in  every  detail,  and 
seemed  to  take  the  spectator  back  to  the  days  of 
Charles  YII.  of  France,  in  which  the  Hon.  Lewis 
Wingfield,  who  had  undertaken  the  adornment 
of  the  play,  advised  his  clients  to  place  the 
action.  The  forest  and  woodland  scenes  that 
followed  were  the  most  convincing  of  stage  land- 
scapes, and  about  the  whole  production  there 
was  a  tenderness  not  lost  upon  the  true  lover 
and  appreciator  of  Shakespeare. 


206  THE  KENDALS 

If  there  was  a  mistake  it  lay  in  the  fact  that 
in  his  desire  to  present  beautiful  contrasts  of  rich 
colour  in  brocades,  velvets,  and  the  like,  Mr. 
Wingfield  had  over-elaborated  the  dresses.  Cer- 
tainly the  followers  of  the  exiled  Duke  in  his 
forest  home,  who  "  killed  the  deer  "  and  coveted 
"  his  leather  skin  and  horns  to  wear  "  were  a  re- 
markably smart  and  well-groomed  company.  But 
Mr.  Wingfield  had  no  doubt  idyllically  pictured 
the  French  "  Ardennes,"  and  not  the  English 
"  Arden  "  (with  which  Shakespeare  was  familiar 
and  no  doubt  loved),  where  many  of  the  poet's 
countrymen,  rightly  or  wrongly,  insist  on  pic- 
turing— 

"  It  was  a  lover  and  his  lass 
That  o'er  the  green  cornfield  did  pass, 
In  the  spring  time,  the  only  pretty  ring  time. 
When  birds  do  sing,  hey  ding  a  ding  a  ding 
Sweet  lovers  love  the  spring." 

Surely  these  must  have  been  the  Warwickshire 
lovers  who  breathed  the  flower-scented  air 
between  Shottery  and  Stratford-on-Avon  ? 

The  play,  moreover,  was  most  delicately  and 
yet,  within  due  limits,  mirthfully  rendered.  Mrs. 
Kendal  played  Kosalind  with  all  the  grace  and 
charm  already  spoken  of  by  me  in  these  pages ; 
Mr.   Kendal   was  the   manly,   picturesque,   and 


ST.    JAMES'S   THEATBE,    1884-1888  207 

earnest  Orlando  of  yore.  Mr.  Hare's  appearance 
as,  and  reading  of  the  very  difficult  part  of, 
Touchstone  was  full  of  interest ;  all  the  other 
parts  were  in  admirably  competent  hands ;  but 
''  As  You  Like  It,"  though  it  delighted  hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  Shakespearean  students,  w^as 
not  one  of  the  St.  James's  great  successes. 

The  fact  is  that  the  habitues  of  that  now 
most  fashionable  of  playhouses  had  become 
accustomed  to  and  relished  more  highly  seasoned 
fare.  They  wanted  modern  plays  containing  a 
certain  amount  of  excitement,  and  showing  fault- 
lessly equipped  drawing-rooms  as  backgrounds  to 
the  actions  of  society  men  and  elegantly  dressed 
women. 

When  I  took  my  French  friend  Frederic  Achard 
to  see  this  Shakespearean  revival  he  was  delighted 
with  the  staging  and  costumes,  but,  in  all  serious- 
ness, said,  "  I  find  him  a  bad  author  ! "  A  little 
after  this  I  met  some  friends  who  I  knew  were 
faithful  frequenters  of  the  stalls  of  the  St.  James's, 
and  asked  them  w^hat  they  thought  of  this,  the 
latest  production  ?  "  Oh,"  they  said,  "  we 
haven't  been  to  see  it,  and  we  don't  mean  to  go. 
It's  Shakespeare,  isn't  it  ?  Yes ;  well,  we  went 
to  see  a  play  of  his — '  Hamlet,'  wasn't  it,  at  the 
Lyceum  ?     Yes  ;    and   we   were   awfully  bored. 


208  THE  KENDALS 

We  don't  like  tragedy,  so  what's  the  use  of  our 
going  to  see  Shakespeare  ?  " 

I  assured  them  that  "  As  You  Like  It  "  was 
comedy  at  its  best,  and  persuaded  them  to  go 
and  see  the  production  with  me.  Alas  !  Alas  ! 
After  an  almost  piteous  effort  to  be  interested  in 
it,  they  quietly  slumbered  by  my  side. 

The  story  goes  that  when,  quite  recently, 
Madame  Sarah  Bernhardt  was  playing  in  her 
French  version  of  "  Hamlet  "  in  London,  a  stall- 
holder at  the  Adelphi  asked  his  neighbour  to  tell 
him  "  why  the  young  Danish  Prince  was  so 
furious  with  his  Uncle  Claudius  ?  "    "  Well,  you 

remember  in  the  play "  began  the  response — 

"  Yes,  yes,"  interrupted  the  questioner,  "  but  it's 
a  long  time  since  I  tackled  Shakespeare,  and  I 
never  was  too  good  at  reading  French  authors  !  " 
Many  people  of  this  class  exist  who  are  more  than 
half  willing  to  pay  their  half-guineas  for  their 
stalls,  but  who  want  in  their  after-dinner  hours 
to  be  roused  by  a  more  easily  grasped  and  stirring 
entertainment. 

Possibly  it  was  because  they  realised  this  that 
the  partners  resolved  that  their  next  experiment 
should  be  an  EngHsh  version  of  M.  Victorien 
Sardou's  "La  Maison  Neuve,"  which,  although 
it  had  created  a  furore  at  the  Paris  Vaudeville  in 


MK.    KENDAL    AS    "  OKLANDO 


ST.    JA3IES'S   THEATRE,    1884-1888  200 

the  far-off  year  of  1866,  had  been  passed  over  by 
the  ever-watchful  EngHsh  adaptor  as  being  too 
strong  meat  for  British  digestion.  To  Mr.  Pinero 
was  entrusted  the  difficult  task  of  transplanting 
this  tabooed  fruit  to  English  soil,  and  boiling  it 
down  and  sweetening  it  to  suit  English  tastes, 
and  with  marvellous  skill  and  tact  he  executed 
it.  And  yet,  even  as  served  up  by  this  master 
chef,  "  Mayfair,"  as  it  was  called,  proved  rather 
too  spicy  for  EngHsh  palates.  Those  who  saw 
"Mayfair"  were  interested,  excited,  and  even 
startled,  and  critics  and  public  alike  were  loud 
in  their  praises  of  the  powerful  yet  refined  acting 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal,  Mr.  Hare,  and  their 
comrades  ;  but  (worst  of  all  faults  in  a  play)  the 
characters,  with  one  exception,  were  utterly  un- 
worthy of  sympathy,  and  I  think  that  was  why 
few  people  wanted,  however  much  it  had  absorbed 
them  once,  to  see  "  Mayfair"  twice. 

Let  the  great  scene  of  the  play  be  pictured  and 
the  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  Geoffrey  Koydant, 
a  speculative  and  successful  young  stockbroker, 
and  Agnes  his  good  but  society-smitten  wife, 
desert  their  good  friend  and  guardian  in  his  old- 
style  but  substantial  house  in  Bloomsbury  for  the 
veneer  of  the  "  New  House  "  on  which  they  have 
set  their  hearts  in  fascinating  Mayfair.  Here  the 
15 


210  THE   KENDALS 

utterly  unprincipled,  handsome,  Lord  Sulgrave 
makes  a  friend  of  the  easily  flattered  Eoydant,  and 
deliberately  resolves  to  steal  his  wife's  honour. 
Featherhead  though  she  is,  she  has  no  real 
thought  of  wronging  her  husband,  but  in  affairs 
of  this  kind  ("woman-stalking"  he  would  pro- 
bably, as  he  lounged  at  his  club,  call  his  favourite 
"sport"),  Sulgrave  is  a  man  of  skill  and  expe- 
rience, and  he  contrives  to  become  an  inmate 
of  the  home  he  means  in  sheer  wantonness  to 
wreck.  There  comes  a  time  when  the  husband 
is  away,  and  she,  having  just  returned  from 
some  late-houred  festivity,  is  sitting  alone  in  her 
boudoir.  There,  in  her  solitude,  and  in  the 
stillness  of  the  night,  the  evil-intentioned  Sul- 
grave confronts  her.  An  exciting  scene  follows, 
and  the  man  being  suddenly  seized  with  an 
attack  of  faintness,  grasps  at  a  phial  of  chloral, 
and,  apparently  lifeless,  falls  to  the  ground.  At 
this  awful  moment  the  husband,  accompanied  by 
a  police  detective,  unexpectedly  returns,  the 
officer  wishing  to  interrogate  Mr.  Eoydant  con- 
cerning a  fraudulent  and  absconding  cashier. 

It  is  a  grim  situation.  In  her  terror  the 
wretched  woman  has  contrived  to  conceal 
Sulgrave 's  body  behind  a  sofa.  With  the  keen 
eyes  of   the  detective  glancing  now  upon  her, 


ST.    JAMES'S    THEATRE,    1884-1888  211 

and  now  upon  her  surroundings,  she  has  to 
strain  her  nerves  to  breaking-point  to  prevent 
discovery,  and  when  on  the  first  night  the  scene 
ended  the  audiences  first  gave  a  great  gasp  of 
reHef,  and  then  abundantly  applauded  Mrs. 
Kendal  in  recognition  of  the  supreme  force  of 
her  acting.  A  powerful  situation  undoubtedly, 
but  not  a  very  wholesome  one — not  one  in  which 
Mrs.  Kendal's  warmest  and  most  appreciative 
audiences  liked  to  see  her  figuring.  In  "  May- 
fair  "  Mr.  Kendal  had  no  great  acting  oppor- 
tunities, and  his  wife  shared  honours  with  Mr. 
Hare,  who,  as  the  sound-minded,  warm-hearted 
Nicholas  Barrable  of  Bloomsbury,  was  delightful. 
It  would  be  unfair  to  take  leave  of  "  Mayfair  " 
without  making  mention  of  the  admirable  cha- 
racter studies  contributed  by  Mr.  C.  Brooktield 
and  Mr.  Hendrie,  and  the  convincing  acting  of 
Mr.  C.  Cartwright  as  the  designing  Sulgrave. 
Mr.  Hendrie 's  name  has  recently  figured  in  the 
bills  of  the  St.  James's  as  one  of  the  clever 
and  fortunate  authors  of  "  The  Elder  Miss 
Blossom." 

In  1899  "  Mayfair"  would  probably  have  had 
a  better  chance  than  in  the  comparatively 
primitive  days  of  1885.  As  it  was,  it  gave 
way   to   a   revival   of    the   ever- welcome    "  Im- 


212  THE   KENDALS 

pulse,"  in  which  the  Kendals  were  once  more 
cheered  to  the  echo. 

I  have  always  thought  that  the  next  produc- 
tion at  the  St.  James's  ought  to  have  been  a 
permanent  success.     It  was  popular  enough  at 
the  time   both  in  London   and   the   provinces, 
but,  as  far  as  I  know,  it  has  never  been  revived. 
"  Antoinette  Eigaud,"  adapted  from  the  French 
of    M.    Raymond    Deslandes    by    Mr.    Ernest 
Warren   (the   play   came   to   England   stamped 
with  the  hall-mark  of  the  Comedie  Eran9aise), 
was    in    every   respect   a   charming   work.      It 
might  have  been  made  "risky,"  but  its  subject 
was  most  delicately  treated ;   the  story  was  an 
exciting    as    well    as    an    affecting    one  ;     the 
uniforms   of    French   officers    and    the    dainty 
toilettes  of  Parisian  ladies  rendered  a  series  of 
eye-pleasing  stage  pictures ;  and  the  acting  could 
not  have  been  excelled.     The  "suggestion"  of 
the  play  lay  merely  in  the  fact  that  a  loving  and 
pure-minded  wife  was,  through  force  of  circum- 
stances,  placed    in   a   compromising    situation, 
from  which,  after  some  very  skilfully  contrived 
situations,   she   emerged   scathless.     It   is   true 
that  one   facetious  critic   was   enabled   to  say, 
"  Indiscreet   gentlemen   are   always   coming   to 
ladies'   bedrooms   at   the    St.  James's   Theatre. 


ST.    JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1884-1888  213 

Mrs.  Kendal  is  continually  attacked  in  this 
unseemly  fashion.  Yesterday  in  '  Mayfair,' 
to-day  in  'Antoinette  Rigaud.' " 

But  there  was  not  a  dewdrop  of  harm  in  poor 
Antoinette  Rigaud,  a  part  that  was  interpreted 
with  consummate  skill  by  Mrs.  Kendal.  Mr. 
Hare  and  Mr.  Kendal  were  both  seen  to  high 
advantage  as  General  de  Prefond  and  Henri  de 
Tourrel,  and  the  trio  were  excellently  supported 
by  Mr.  Barnes,  Mr;  Herbert  Waring,  Mr.  Hen- 
drie,  Mr.  Paget,  Mr.  R.  Cathcart,  Miss  Linda 
Dietz,  and  Miss  Webster.  It  was  generally 
acknowledged  that,  as  a  whole,  the  performance 
had  not  been  excelled  in  the  annals  of  one  of 
the  best  comedy  companies  London  had  ever 
seen.  Better  acting,  it  was  allowed,  could  not 
be  found  at  any  theatre  in  Paris. 

And  yet,  though  it  was  only  produced  in  the 
February  of  1886,  it  was  succeeded  in  May 
by  Messrs.  Sydney  Grundy  and  Sutherland 
Edwards's  adaptation  in  five  acts  of  the 
"  Martyre  "  of  MM.  D'Ennery  and  Tarbe, 
entitled  "  The  Wife's  Sacrifice."  This  was  not 
a  piece  likely  to  have  very  prolonged  hold  on 
English  audiences,  for  in  our  islands  we  do  not 
believe  that  a  wife's  first  duty  is  not  to  her 
husband    or    herself,    but    to    her    father    and 


214  THE  KENDALS 

mother.  Whether  we  are  right  or  wrong  is 
not  for  me  to  say,  but  it  certainly  occurs  to 
me  that,  as  set  forth  in  "  The  Wife's  Sacrifice," 
such  a  state  of  things  would  be  at  least  uncon- 
vincing to  the  husband. 

In  this  play  it  was  to  save  disaster  and 
disgrace  falling  on  her  mother's  grey  head, 
and  to  support  her  father's  sense  of  honour, 
that  Isabelle,  Countess  de  Moray,  suffered  her 
mother's  son  to  be  shot  dead  before  her  eyes, 
confessing  and  even  protesting  that  she  had  a 
lover,  and  living  alone  in  disgrace,  while  her 
husband,  who  had  been,  not  unnaturally, 
divorced  from  her,  contracted  a  second  mar- 
riage with  a  worthless  bride.  Truly  was  it 
said  that,  had  Isabelle  revealed  to  her  husband 
in  the  second  act  that  secret  which  is  not 
discovered  until  the  fifth,  she  would  have  acted 
as  any  common-sense  woman  ought  when  her 
own  happiness  and  that  of  her  husband  and 
daughter  are  in  danger.  When  the  wife  who 
sacrificed  herself  and  her  husband  from  a 
mistaken  sense  of  duty  was  admirably  acted, 
a  momentary  sympathy  only  was  aroused  for  a 
mistaken  woman.  The  audience,  carried  away 
by  the  energy  and  power  of  the  actress,  were 
led    into    a    false    commiseration,    which    was 


ST.    JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1884-1888  215 

imniediatel}^   shattered   after  a  moment's  calm 
reflection. 

It  was  this  fault,  no  doubt,  that  militated 
against  the  permanent  popularity  of  the  play 
on  Enghsh  boards.  Mr.  Kendal,  as  the  hus- 
band, made  a  "husband's  sacrifice"  by  once 
more,  for  the  "good  of  the  house,"  taking  a 
difficult  and  uncongenial  part.  Mr.  Hare  was 
able  to  score  in  a  bright  character  study,  but 
Mrs.  Kendal  made  the  success  of  the  produc- 
tion, and  of  her  acting  I  will  quote  a  critic, 
who  said:  "Mrs.  Kendal's  interpretation  of  the 
Countess  de  Moray  was  remarkably  fine.  In 
speaking  of  Mrs.  Kendal's  performance  I  use 
the  word  '  interpretation '  because  she  is  one 
of  the  few  actresses  who  aim  at  giving  a 
complete,  consistent  rendering  of  character. 
She  is  for  the  time  being  the  woman  she 
represents.  She  loses  herself  entirely  in  her 
part,  and  in  this  respect  she  might  with 
advantage  be  imitated  by  her  younger  sisters 
in  the  theatrical  profession.  Her  interpreta- 
tion of  the  life  of  this  unhappy  woman  was 
rich  with  thought,  illuminated  by  intelligence, 
and  rendered  unusually  interesting  by  its  com- 
pleteness. It  was  not  merely  striking  here  and 
there,  but  it  was  all  acting  should  accompHsh, 
a  perfectly  consistent  rendering  of  character." 


216  THE  KENDALS 

By  the  time  a  change  of  programme  was 
required  Mr.  Pinero  was  ready  with  another 
original  play,  and  "The  Hobby  Horse"  was 
staged.^  Because  Mr.  Kendal  found  in  the 
comedy  no  part  that  he  thought  he  could  play  to 
advantage — and  Mrs.  Kendal  was  said  by  some 
critics  to  be  misfitted  as  Mrs.  Spencer  Jermyn — 
the  wiseacres  said  that  "the  Kendals  had  never 
liked  the  play."  Some  time  before  its  production 
they  gave  it  to  me  to  read,  asking  me  to  tell  them 
frankly  what  I  thought  of  it.  When  I  said  that 
to  my' notion  no  more  witty  or  original  piece 
had  been  written  for  many  a  long  day,  they 
laughed  and  with  manifest  dehght  said,  "  Yes  ! 
that's  just  what  we  think ! "  and  then  they 
dipped  into  it  and,  with  keen  relish,  quoted  its 
raciest  lines.  Of  course  the  great  part  of  "  The 
Hobby  Horse  "  was  that  allotted  to  Mr.  Hare, 
and,  as  Mr.  Spencer  Jermyn,  the  cheery,  spruce, 
and  precise  "patron  of  the  turf,"  now  urbane, 
now  peppery,  and  appropriately  nicknamed 
"  Nettles  "  by  his  wife,  he  played  with  consum- 
mate art.  With  Mr.  Pinero  he  came  in  for  his 
full  share  of  well-merited  praise,  but  it  was 
somewhat  freely  contended  that  in  the  great 
scene  of  the  play  Mrs.  Kendal  took  her  part  too 
seriously. 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATBE,    1884-1888  217 

If  one  glances  at  the  situation,  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  she  could  read  it,  or  play  it,  from  any 
other  point  of  view.  A  true-hearted  but  wilful 
young  wife,  with  an  intense  desire  to  do  good  to 
the  poor,  rashly  undertakes  to  assist  a  poor 
curate  in  the  slums  of  London,  and  through 
force  of  circumstances  has  to  pass  herself  off  as 
an  unmarried  woman.  The  curate,  a  perfect 
type  of  the  manly,  self-sacrificing,  and  devoted 
English  clergyman  (how  well  the  Reverend  Noel 
Brice  was  played  by  Mr.  Herbert  Waring  !),  falls 
in  love  with  her.  She  knows  that  his  devotion 
is  sincere,  and  that  by  deceiving  him  she  has 
most  cruelly  treated  him.  Could  a  tender- 
hearted woman  fail  to  feel  and  to  show  remorse  ? 
The  truth  is  that  in  such  a  comedy  as  "  The 
Hobby  Horse  "  the  situation  was  not  only  an 
unexpectedly  serious  one,  but  a  very  difficult 
one  for  actors  to  handle.  It  was  one  of  those 
copious  squeezes  of  lemon-juice  with  which  Mr. 
Pinero  loves  to  flavour  his  bowls  of  fragrant 
punch.  It  is  good  for  all  of  us  that  he  some- 
times dons  the  cap  and  bells,  but  even  then  he 
never  fails  to  let  us  see  that  it  covers  a  very 
searching  brain. 

To   say    that    "The   Hobby   Horse"   was    a 
"piece    before    its    time"    is    to    use    a    "vile 


218  THE   KENDALS 

phrase  "  ;  and  yet  I  think  Mr.  Hare  found  it  far 
better  understood  when,  at  the  earnest  advice 
of  his  friends,  he  revived  it  a  year  or  so  ago. 
Mr.  Bret  Harte  (it  was  on  the  eve  of  Mr.  Hare's 
departure  to  America)  wrote  to  me  :  "  I  have  a 
very  vivid  recollection  of  Hare's  delivery  of  the 
apology  forced  from  Spencer  Jermyn  by  his  wife 
in  the  last  act  of  '  The  Hobby  Horse.'  The 
language  is  very  simple — as  Pinero  always  is 
when  he  is  most  subtle — so  simple,  I  should 
hesitate  to  transcribe  it ;  but  Pinero  knew  that 
Hare  could  inform  it  with  the  very  spirit  of  the 
irony  he  intended,  so  that  it  stands  out  now 
with  Hare's  delivery  as  one  of  the  most  delight- 
ful and  sarcastic  resumes  of  the  moral  and  senti- 
mental situations  of  a  play  I  ever  witnessed." 

But  in  talking  it  over  with  me  Bret  Harte 
admitted  that  John  Hare  could  not  have  made 
this  great  coioj)  unaided  by  the  matchless  way  in 
which  it  was  led  up  to  by  Mrs.  Kendal.  By  the 
way,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  for  the 
original  production  of  "  The  Hobby  Horse  " 
Mrs.  Beerbohm  Tree  temporarily  joined  the 
forces  at  the  St.  James's,  and  delighted  every 
one,  not  only  by  her  charming  presence,  but  by 
her  ample  appreciation  of  the  whimsically  drawn 
character  of  Miss  Moxon. 


ST.    JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1884-1888  219 

In  the  February  of  1887  the  highest  of  com- 
phments  was  paid  to  the  Kendals.  Their  artistic 
excellence,  coupled  with  their  personal  charm, 
had  not  failed  to  reach  the  ears  of  her  Majesty, 
Queen  Victoria.  In  the  earlier  days  of  her 
reign  her  Majesty  had  evinced  a  very  keen  as 
well  as  a  very  critical  interest  in  the  drama,  but 
when,  by  the  sadly  early  death  of  the  Prince 
Consort,  her  life  became  so  changed  and  over- 
shadowed, she  had,  together  with  other  recrea- 
tions, abandoned  the  theatres.  Some  good 
stage  fairy  must  have  whispered  in  her  ear  that 
she  would  do  well  to  see  a  performance  by  the 
Kendals,  and  to  their  great  gratification  they 
received  a  "  command  "  to  appear  before  her  at 
Osborne.  Thither  they  went,  and  a  very  de- 
lightful and  gratifying  experience  they  had.  At 
Southampton  they  were  met  by  a  Eoyal  steam 
launch,  and,  crossing  to  Cowes,  were  from  thence 
escorted  to  the  Queen's  beautiful  home  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight.  There  they  found  a  little  stage 
erected  for  them  in  the  Council  Chamber,  and 
right  royal  hospitality  at  their  disposal. 

The  play  chosen  was  Mr.  W.  S.  Gilbert's 
clever  two-act  comedy  "  Sweethearts,"  in  which 
Mr.  Coghlan  and  Mrs.  Bancroft  had  appeared  at 
the  old  Prince  of  Wales's  Theatre  in  1874,  and 


220  TBE   KENDALS 

the  Kendals  had  shone  in  the  provinces.  A 
better  selection  could  not  have  been  made,  for, 
in  the  right  hands,  the  play  gives  scope  for  much 
quiet  humour  as  v^ell  as  an  infinity  of  pathos, 
and  as  it  was  preceded  by  "Uncle's  Will,"  the 
daintiest  of  programmes  was  secured.  The 
third  and  only  other  performer  in  these  two 
plays  was  that  sound  old  actor,  Mr.  E.  Cathcart. 
Directly  the  curtain  went  up  on  Theyre  Smith's 
sparkling  comedietta  the  Queen,  in  no  uncer- 
tain way,  evinced  her  appreciation,  and  gave  the 
somewhat  nervous  actors  heart ;  and  so  the 
success  of  the  evening  was  at  once  a  thing 
assured.  Her  Majesty,  it  should  be  noted,  was 
surrounded  by  her  Court,  and  the  servants  of 
the  household  were  also  permitted  to  enjoy  the 
entertainment.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  per- 
formance the  Kendals  were  presented  to  the 
Queen ;  Mrs.  Kendal  was  cordially  enjoined  to 
"  kiss  hands,"  and  probably  for  the  first  time  in 
the  annals  of  the  stage  actors  were  made  at 
home  in  this  private  gathering  of  the  Court. 
Her  Majesty  was  more  than  gracious,  frankly 
saying  how  much  she  had  enjoyed  the  perform- 
ance, and  asking  many  questions  that  showed 
how  truly  her  interest  had  been  aroused. 

Subsequently  when  the  Queen,  having  again 


ST.    JAMES'S    THEATRE,    1884-1888  221 

offered  her  hand  to  Mrs.  Kendal  to  be  kissed, 
had  retired,  supper  was  announced,  and  the 
heroine  of  a  memorable  evening  was  led  in  by 
Prince  Henry  of  Battenburg. 

I  use  the  word  "  memorable  "  because, 
although  since  1887  many  of  our  leading 
actors  and  actresses  have  appeared  before  the 
Queen,  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  the 
Kendals  were  the  first  to  be  invited,  and  (by  the 
good  impression  they  created),  to  most  happily 
reawaken  our  Sovereign's  interest  in  the  stage. 
And  so,  having  by  special  desire  signed  their 
names  in  the  Queen's  birthday-book,  the 
Kendals,  full  of  most  gratifying  recollections, 
re-crossed  the  Solent  in  the  Eoyal  Yacht 
Alberta,  and  returned  to  their  work  at  the  St. 
James's. 

As  a  souvenir  of  the  occasion  Mrs.  Kendal 
very  soon  received  a  little  parcel,  addressed, 
"To  Mrs.  Kendal  Grimston,  from  her  Majesty 
the  Queen,"  and  within  it  found  a  beautifully 
designed  brooch  presenting  the  royal  crown 
studded  with  diamonds,  sapphires,  and   rubies. 

They  were  especially  busy  at  the  St.  James's 
just  then,  for  it  had  been  decided  to  revive  Tom 
Taylor's  fine  historical  drama,  "  Lady  Clan- 
carty,"  with  every  attention  to  accuracy  in  the 


222  THE  KENDALS 

way  of  scenery,  dresses,  appointments,  and 
effects  that  cost  and  study,  coupled  with  the 
latest  developments  of  stage-craft,  could  suggest. 
When  the  play  had  been  produced  at  the 
Olympic,  in  1874,  the  audiences  were  more 
intent  on  the  impressive  acting  of  Mr.  Henry 
Neville,  Mr.  W.  H.  Yernon,  Mr.  G.  W.  Anson, 
Miss  Ada  Cavendish,  and  their  supporters  than 
upon  their  stage  surroundings.  But  in  1887 
playgoers  had  become  spoiled — the  Hare- 
Kendal  management  had  helped  to  do  it ! — and 
demanded  a  feast  for  the  eye  as  well  as  a  treat 
for  the  ear,  and  almost  ignored  a  demand  upon 
imagination.  Nay,  critics,  or  some  of  them, 
had  become  so  exacting,  that  the  smallest 
anachronism  was  pointed  out  by  the  expert 
eye.  From  these  points  of  view  very  little  fault 
could  be  found  with  "Lady  Clancarty  "  when 
the  play  was  revived  at  the  St.  James's  on 
March  3,  1887.  As  far  as  scenery,  dresses, 
appointments,  and  stage  pictures  went,  there 
was  nothing  but  praise  from  the  critics — indeed 
there  could  be  nothing  but  praise — but  in  some 
quarters  it  was  urged  that  the  theatre  was  not 
the  right  one  for  such  a  play,  that  the  audiences 
who  were  wont  to  fill  it  had  no  sympathy  or 
liking  for  an  historical-heroic  form  of  entertain- 


ST.    JAMES'S    THEATRE,    1884-1888  223 

rnent,  and  certainly  the  actors  and  actresses 
must  have  been  chilled  by  the  gloom  with 
which  their  fashionable  patrons  received  the 
most  thrilling  situations,  and  the  apathy  with 
which  the  tender  speeches  and  romantic  passages 
were  heard. 

The  fact  is  that  the  St.  James's  audiences  did 
not  quite  understand  it,  and  the  accuracy  of  the 
production  was  thrown  away  upon  them.  It  has 
been  recorded  that  on  the  first  night  when  King 
AYilliam  III.  led  the  Princess  Anne  through  the 
private  apartment  of  the  Earl  of  Portland  to  see 
his  beloved  tulip  garden,  one  occupant  of  the 
stalls  said  to  his  neighbour,  "Isn't  this  awfully 
vulgar?"  and  that  this  was  the  general  feeling 
of  the  stall  liahitues.  That  the  cheaper  parts  of 
the  house  knew  better  and  showed  their  solid 
appreciation  by  reiterated  applause  is  a  thing  of 
course. 

The  piece  could  hardly  have  been  better  cast. 
In  the  fine  parts  of  Lord  and  Lady  Clancarty 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  were  supported  by  Mrs. 
Beerbohm  Tree  (very  bright  and  winsome  as  Lady 
Betty  Noel),  that  perfectly  finished  actress  Mrs. 
Gaston  Murray,  and  by  Mr.  Herbert  Waring, 
Mr.  E.  Cathcart,  Mr.  Ben  Webster,  Mr.  H. 
Bedford,    and    Mr.    Hendrie.      Disappointment 


224  THE  KENDALS 

was  felt  that  Mr.  Hare  did  not  appear  as 
William  III.,  but  he  found  an  irreproachable 
substitute  in  Mr.  Mackintosh. 

In  connection  with  her  impersonation  of  Lady 
Clancarty  Mrs.  Kendal  acknowledges  her  in- 
debtedness to  critics.*  "  When  the  play  was 
first  produced,"  she  says,  "  nearly  all  the 
criticisms  on  me  were  adverse  ;  in  some  cases 
the  writers — gentlemen  in  whose  opinion  I  have 
the  greatest  faith,  and  for  whose  judgment  I 
have  the  greatest  admiration — pointed  out  most 
kindly  to  me  where  they  thought  my  reading 
and  my  view  of  the  character  were  wrong.  First 
impressions  had  been  made  by  a  very  beautiful 
and  extremely  talented  woman  (Miss  Ada 
Cavendish),  and  I  daresay  to  some  extent 
militated  against  me — for  first  impressions 
always  are  the  strongest,  and  it  is  quite  right 
they  should  be.  I  felt  so  instinctively  that 
their  criticisms  were  right,  that  I  worked  very, 
very  hard  at  my  part  for  weeks  and  weeks.  I 
went  on  a  long  tour  with  it  in  the  country,  and 
tried  it  in  many  different  ways,  and  eventually 
when  I  returned  to  reopen  the  St.  James's 
Theatre    in    the    winter    season    with    it    the 

*  "Dramatic  Opinions,"  by  Mrs.  Kendal.  Murray's 
Magazine,  1889. 


ST.    JAMES'S  THEATRE,    1884-1888  225 

criticisms  were  most  generous  and  kind,  and  I 
was  highly  praised  for  the  improvement  I  had 
made  in  my  part.  I  cannot  now  call  to  mind 
every  instance  in  which  I  have  remembered  the 
criticisms  which  have  been  written  about  me — 
w^here  I  have  instinctively  felt  that  they  w^ere 
right  and  I  was  wrong,  and  I  altered  my  part  ac- 
cordingly. I  have  great  admiration  for  the  writ- 
ings of  some  theatrical  critics,  w^ho,  whenever 
they  have  to  say  anything  unkind,  do  so  in  a  very 
gentlemanly  way,  and  in  a  kindly  spirit,  and  who, 
if  they  praise  you,  do  so  to  the  utmost  of  their 
power.  This  of  course  is  in  violent  contrast 
wdth  those  critics  who  are  led,  more  or  less,  by 
personal  feeling  of  like  or  dislike  to  the  artist 
they  are  criticising,  or  with  those  people  who 
make  it  a  point  of  turning  everything  into 
ridicule,  no  matter  what  you  may  attempt 
from   a  high  art  point  of  view." 

For  a  long  time  the  Kendals  had  held  in  view 
a  revival  of  George  W.  Lovell's  play,  "  The 
Wife's  Secret,"  which  in  the  "  forties,"  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Kean,  Mr.  Howe,  Mr. 
Benjamin  Webster,  and  Mrs.  Keeley  in  the  cast, 
had  been  extremely  popular.  In  the  country 
and  America  too  it  had  proved  one  of  the  Charles 
Keans'  trump  cards.  It  is  what  is  known  in 
16 


226  THE  KENDALS 

theatrical  circles  as  a  "man  and  wife"  play, 
and  from  that  point  of  view  seemed  eminently 
suited  to  the  Kendals.  Since  their  wedding  day 
they  have  never  played  apart  from  each  other, 
and  although  this  rigidly  kept  rule  has  often 
kept  the  one  or  the  other  from  accepting  a 
tempting  engagement,  it  has  endeared  them  to 
the  public.  They  like  to  know  that  on  the  eve 
of  their  marriage  Mrs.  Kendal's  father  begged 
them  always  to  act  together,  that  they  promised, 
and  have  kept  their  word.  They  love  to  see 
them  acting  together,  and  they  have  an  especial 
fondness  for  the  plays  in  which  husband  and 
wife  appear  as  husband  and  wife. 

"  The  Wife's  Secret  "  sets  forth  an  interesting 
story  of  misunderstanding  and  reconciliation  ; 
the  period  in  which  it  is  set  gives  scope  for 
picturesque  dressing  and  stage  mounting,  and 
for  most  of  the  characters  engaged  in  its  action 
it  affords  excellent  opportunities.  The  time  for 
its  revival  seemed  ripe,  and  the  usual  outlay 
and  care  were  lavished  on  the  production. 
Indeed,  I  remember  accompanying  Mr.  Kendal 
to  a  fine  old  Elizabethan  mansion  in  order  that 
he  might  make  accurate  drawings  of  the  old  oak 
panelling,  window-seats,  doorways,  and  the  like, 
for  reproduction  in  his  elaborate  set  scenes. 


ST.    JAMES'S   THEATRE,    1884-1888  227 

On  April  9,  1888,  the  play  was  presented  at 
the  St.  James's  and  behind  the  curtain  all 
promised  well.  But  in  front  of  it,  and  long 
before  it  had  risen,  one  could  hear  the  ill- 
omened  word,  "old  fashioned,"  passed  from 
mouth  to  mouth.  The  audience  pre-condemned 
it  as  "  old  fashioned,"  and,  in  spite  of  the  really 
fine  acting  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal,  Miss  Fanny 
Brough,  Mr.  Lewis  Waller,  Mr.  Mackintosh,  and 
other  members  of  the  cast,  told  their  friends  it 
loas  "  old  fashioned  "  and  advised  them  to  stay 
away  !  They  did,  and  after  a  very  brief  run 
the  piece  was  withdrawn.  With  a  little  en- 
couragement the  Kendals  might  have  put  long 
new  life  into  good  old  work. 

I  should  think  that  when  she  noted  these 
dwindling  audiences  Mrs.  Kendal,  for  the  first 
time  in  her  own  experiences,  must  have  been 
humorously  reminded  of  one  of  her  favourite 
stories — that  of  "  Mrs.  Smith's  Quilt  " — which 
relates  how  a  provincial  company  on  tour,  playing 
for  the  first  time  in  a  small  country  town,  were 
dismayed  at  the  emptiness  of  the  house.  Both 
play  and  players  were  w^ell  known  and  popular, 
and  they  were  justified  in  expecting  a  good 
audience.  Vexed  at  the  neglect  shown  them, 
they  asked  the  manager,  who  had  eagerly  sought 


228  THE  KENDALS 

the  engagement,  if  he  could  in  any  way  account 
for  it.  "Well,"  he  said,  "I  don't  quite  under- 
stand it;  but  you  see  Mrs.  Smith  was  raffling  her 
patchwork  quilt  last  night,  and  it  may  be  the 
people  all  went  there  !"  Mrs.  Kendal  maintains 
that  a  "  Mrs.  Smith's  Quilt "  has  often  been 
found  useful  in  accounting   for  empty  benches. 

In  1888  the  partnership  of  Messrs.  Hare  and 
Kendal  came  to  an  end,  and  (to  the  great  regret 
of  the  public)  with  it  their  occupation  of  the 
St.  James's.  For  their  closing  seasons  they 
presented  a  welcome  series  of  revivals  of  their 
most  notable  successes,  and  on  July  21st  bade 
farewell  to  the  house  which  they  had  conducted 
with  as  much  credit  to  themselves  as  advantage 
to  their  patrons. 

At  the  fall  of  the  curtain  Mr.  Hare  came 
forward,  and  in  a  brief  but  eloquent  speech 
reviewed  the  work  that  had  been  done  and 
thanked  the  public  for  their  constant  sympathy 
and  encouragement.  He  wound  up  by  saying  : 
"  I  must  also  publicly  thank  the  partner  w^hose 
loyal  aid  and  help  I  have  enjoyed  for  so  many 
years  ;  Mrs.  Kendal,  whose  talents  have  shed 
lustre  and  given  vitality  to  so  many  of  our 
productions  ;  and  a  company  many  of  whom 
I  am  proud  to  count  as  friends  of  old  standing. 


ST.  JAMES'S   THEATBE,   1884-1888  229 

and  a  devoted  staff  of  officials  and  servants,  for 
being  in  a  position  at  this  present  moment  of 
hoping  I  may  enjoy  some  portion  of  your  confi- 
dence and  regard  in  the  future." 

Responding  to  an  enthusiastic  call,  Mr.  Kendal 
said  :  "  For  Mrs.  Kendal  and  myself  I  must 
cordially  and  gratefully  endorse  all  that  my 
friend  Mr.  Hare  has  just  said  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  great  indulgence  and  the  most 
generous  support  which  we  have  received  at 
your  hands  during  our  tenancy  of  this  theatre. 
We  have  had  more  successes  and  fewer  failures 
than  fall  to  the  lot  of  average  managers.  It 
would  be  an  affectation  on  my  part  were  I  to 
be  restrained  by  any  unworthy  bashfulness  for 
declaring  that  for  our  successes  we  are  princi- 
pally indebted  to  Mrs.  Kendal.  With  Mrs. 
Kendal  we  have  done  what  we  have  done; 
without  her,  we  could,  indeed,  have  done  but 
little.  No  one,  I  am  sure,  will  more  sincerely 
endorse  this  avowal  than  my  late  partner,  to 
whose  uninterrupted  friendship,  hearty  loyalty, 
and  generous  co-operation  during  our  entire  con- 
nection I  now  most  gladly  bear  testimony.  Next 
to  Mrs.  Kendal,  we  are  indebted  to  the  zealous 
assistance  and  unsparing  efforts  of  our  entire 
company  and  staff,  who,  without  exception,  have 


230  THE  KENDALS 

done  their  utmost  in  aiding  us  to  earn  the  com- 
mendation so  liberally  accorded  by  our  critics, 
to  whom  we  gratefully  admit  our  obligations. 
One  of  the  kindest  and  yet  keenest  of  our  critics 
has  said  that  the  partnership  now  terminated 
has  been  productive  of  much  interesting  and 
memorable  work.  If  we  have  done  this,  I  may 
frankly  say  we  have  realised  our  highest  ambi- 
tion. In  closing  a  connection  of  such  long 
duration,  and  parting  from  our  company,  our 
partner,  and  the  theatre  which  has  been  for 
so  many  years  our  home,  we  have  but  words  of 
heartfelt  gratitude  for  the  past  and  confident 
hope  for  the  future.  And  now,  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  the  time  has  come  to  say,  in  this 
place,  farewell.  We  separate  from  our  recent 
associations  with  no  inconsiderable  pain.  Ties 
such  as  we  have  maintained  with  the  St.  James's 
Theatre  through  all  these  years  are  not  broken 
without  regret.  We  go  each  our  own  way,  with 
no  shadow  of  rivalry  save  the  worthy  rivalry  of 
striving  each  for  himself  and  herself  to  earn  a 
continuance  of  your  favour,  and  to  sustain  the 
honour  of  our  profession." 

And  so  this  bright  chapter  in  dramatic  history 
came,  as  all  things  do,  to  an  end.  We  would 
fain  have  had  it  a  longer  one,  but  beneath  it  the 


ST.   JAMES'S   THEATBE,    1884-1888  231 

stage  historian  had  to  write  the  generally  painful 
word — 

"  FINIS." 

But  it  lives  in  the  memory  of  thousands,  and 
it  by  no  means  exhausted  the  theatrical  triumphs 
of  Mr.  Hare  and  the  Kendals,  who  were  probably 
never  more  popular  than  they  are  to-day. 


CHAPTER   IX 

AMERICA 

TT7HEN,  soon  after  the  termination  of  the 
^  *  partnership  with  Mr.  Hare,  the  Kendals 
announced  their  intention  of  playing  in 
America,  there  were  plenty  of  croakers  ready 
to  prognosticate  failure.  "It  was  too  late  for 
such  a  venture,"  they  said;  "all  their  best 
plays  had  been  done  there ;  other  English 
actors  and  actresses  had  gone  out  and  failed  ; 
and  how  did  the  Kendals  know  that  their  style 
of  acting  would  suit  trans-Atlantic  playgoers'? 
Oh  no !  It  was  a  most  unwise  expedition,  and 
no  doubt  they  would  live  to  regret  it." 
Naturally  modest,  the  Kendals  had  their  own 
misgivings,  but  that  most  astute,  cool-headed, 
and  charming-mannered  of  American  managers, 
Mr.  Daniel  Frohman,  under  whose  guidance  the 
engagement  was  to  be  fulfilled,  would  reassure 
them  with   his   confident  smile   and   his   quiet 


234  THE  KENDALS 

remark  :  "  Leave  it  all  to  me.     I  know  America, 
and  it's  quite  big  enough  to  take  care  of  you." 

Of  course  their  English  friends  could  not  let 
them  go  away  without  a  "God-speed"  and  an 
affectionate  an  revoir,  and  a  committee  of  those 
most  intimate  with  them  and  who  held  their 
welfare  at  heart  was  quickly  formed.  In 
England  no  celebration  is  complete  without 
a  dinner,  and  their  deliberations  resulted  as 
follows : — 

FAREWELL    BANQUET 

TO 

MR.    AND     MRS.     KENDAL. 
Prior  to  their  Departure  for  America. 


THE  RT.  HON.  JOSEPH  CHAMBERLAIN,  M.P. 

Chairman. 


Tuesday,  July  16,  1889. 

Whiteball  Rooms: 
The  Hotel  Metropole,  London. 


COMMITTEE  : 

The  Earl  of  Radnor.  A.  W.  Pinero. 

The  Earl  of  Fife.  W.  G.  Cusms. 

The  Earl  of  Londesborough.  Ai-thur  Cecil. 

Lord  Cranborne,  M.P.  Beerbohm  Tree. 

Lord  Rowton.  Frank  H.  Hill. 

Sir  Hy.  James,  Q.C.,  M.P.  Joseph  Knight. 

Sir  Chas.  Russell,  Q.C.,  M.P.  A.  W.  Dubourg. 


AMERICA 


235 


Committee  {continued). 


Sir  A.  K.  Rollit.  LL.D.,  M.P. 

Sir  WUliam  Dalby. 

Sir  C.  Forster,  Bart.,  M.P. 

Sir  J.  E.  MiUais,  Bart.,  R.A. 

Sir  Henry  Edwards. 

Charles  HaU,  Q.C.,  M.P. 

Horace  Farquhar. 

Edward  L.  Lawson. 

Frank  Lockwood,  Q.C.,  M.P. 

F.  A.  Inderwick,  Q.C. 

John  Hare. 

Dr.  Quain. 

Maclainc  of  Lochbuie. 

John  L.  Toole. 


Walter  S.  Bailey. 

Arthur  Rollit. 

Robert  H.  Wyndhani, 

Frank  D.  Finlay. 

P.  Hardwacke. 

Edward  Ledger. 

L.  Sterne. 

T.  Edgar  Pemberton. 

Montagu  Williams,  Q.C. 

Lennox  Browne,  F.R.C.S. 

Alexander  Dennistoun. 

Edmund  Routledge. 

Marcus  Stone,  R.A. 

H.  Brackenbury,  C.B.,  Lt.-Gen. 


LIST  OF  TOASTS. 


"  The  Queen." 
The  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales  and  the 
Royal  Family." 

"Our  Guests:  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal." 
Mr.  Kendal  will  reply. 

Presentation  to  Mrs.  Kendal. 
Mrs.  Kendal  will  reply. 

"  The  Drama." 

Proposed  by  Sir.  Chas.  Russell,  M.P. 

Mr.  J.  L.  Toole  will  reply. 

"The  Chairman  and  Mrs.  Chamberlain." 

Proposed  by  Mr.  John  Hare. 

The  Chairman  will  reply. 


Selection  of  Music  by  The  Bijou  Orchestra. 
Conductor  :  Mr.  J.  Pough&r. 


Concerning  the  choice  of  a  chairman  there 
had  naturally  been  much  discussion,  but  as- 
suredly no  better  man  than  Mr.  Chamberlain 
could  have  been  chosen.     Then  (as  he  is  now) 


236  THE   KENDALS 

he  was  one  of  the  most  promment  of  our 
statesmen ;  he  was  then  (as  he  is  now)  in 
sympathetic  touch  with  America ;  he  had 
recently  married  a  charming  and  most  gifted 
American  lady,  who  had  immediately  won  a 
front  place  in  and  endeared  herself  to  not 
only  the  highest  of  social  circles,  but  to  all 
English  folk  with  whom  she  came  in  contact ; 
he  was  as  good  and  genial  an  after-dinner 
speaker  as  he  was  an  impressive  political  orator; 
and  he  had  always  taken  an  ardent  interest  in 
the  drama. 

How  keen  that  interest  had  at  one  time  been 
no  one  who  entered  the  Hotel  Metropole  on  the 
evening  of  July  16,  1889,  knew  better  than 
myself.  In  the  course  of  the  proceedings  (it 
was  in  his  happy  response  to  the  enthusiastically 
received  proposal  of  his  own  health)  he  said  :  "  I 
do  not  believe  myself  that  there  is  anybody  here 
who  can  say,  as  your  chairman  can  proudly  say, 
that  he  has  written  a  comedy  which  had  the 
honour  of  being  submitted  to  the  late  Mr. 
Eobson,  and  by  him  immediately  rejected  as 
totally  unsuitable  for  his  own  or  any  other 
stage." 

This  was  said  laughingly,  and  excited  laughter, 
but  Mr.  Chamberlain  once  told  me  how,  in  his 


AMERICA  237 

young  daj^s,  he  had  earnestly  hoped  to  become  a 
successful  dramatist,  and  had  been  disappointed 
as  one  by  one  his  pieces  were  rejected.  When  I 
suggested  that  no  doubt  they  would  be  accepted 
now.  he  smiled  and  impHed  that  in  that  direction 
his  ambition  had  been  lived  down.  Then,  in  his 
early  Birmingham  days,  he  had  been  a  most 
accomplished  amateur  actor,  and  many  people 
still  talk  of  the  excellence  of  his  performances  at 
the  house  of  his  friend,  Mr.  C.  E.  Mathews,  the 
famous  mountaineer  and  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Alpine  Club — Mr.  Mathews,  by  the  way, 
used  to  "  mount "  his  bijou  productions  with 
singular  care  and  taste — as  Puff  in  Sheridan's 
"Critic"  and  Young  Wilding  in  Foote's  "The 
Liar." 

Certainly  there  could  have  been  no  better 
president  of  the  Kendal  banquet  than  Mr. 
Chamberlain;  and  as  in  Mr.  Frank  Dalzell 
Finlay  (known  to  every  one  and  popular  with 
every  one  in  leading  political,  literary,  and 
artistic  circles)  an  enthusiastic  honorary  secre- 
tary was  found,  the  success  of  the  enterprise 
was  a  thing  assured.  The  handsome  Whitehall 
Rooms  of  the  Hotel  Metropole  looked  especially 
bright  when  on  the  evening  of  the  entertainment 
Mr.  Chamberlain  took  his  place.     To  the  right 


238  THE   KENDALS 

and  left  of  him  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal,  to 
the  right  and  left  of  them  were  the  Earl  of 
Londesborough  and  Mrs.  Chamberlain,  and  the 
other  occupants  of  the  seats  at  the  high  table 
were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Hare,  the  Dowager 
Marchioness  of  Waterford,  Lord  Eowton,  Lord 
Ardilaun,  Sir  Joseph  Fayrer,  Sir  C.  Eussell, 
Q.C.,  M.P.,  Lady  Bruce  Seton,  Sir  Edgar 
Boehm,  E.A.,  Miss  Genevieve  Ward,  Sir  Morell 
Mackenzie,  Mrs.  Brydes  Williams,  Lady  Ardi- 
laun, Mr.  F.  C.  Burnand,  Lady  Eussell,  Sir 
Bruce  Seton,  Lady  Morell  Mackenzie,  Sir  A.  K. 
Eollit,  M.P.,  Lady  Colvile,  the  Hon.  Mrs. 
Lawrence,  the  Hon.  C.  Lawrence,  Sir  Arthur 
and  Lady  Blomfield,  Sir  Frederick  Smythe,  Sir 
F.  Goldsmid,  and  Sir  Henry  Edwards.  At  the 
seven  tables  that,  horseshoe  fashion,  spread  from 
the  high  table  were  nearly  two  hundred  well- 
known  ladies  and  gentlemen,  all  personal  friends 
of  the  Kendals,  and  all  right  truly  wishing  them 
success. 

When  Mr.  Chamberlain  rose  to  propose  the 
toast  of  the  evening  he  found  a  good-humoured, 
expectant,  and  appreciative  audience,  anxious 
to  listen  to  him ;  and  in  his  usual  deft  way 
he  made  a  speech  exactly  suited  to  the  occasion. 

"  I  have  now  the  pleasure,"  he  said,  "  of  pro- 


AMEBIC  A  239 

posing  the  toast  of  the  evening,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kendal,  whom   we    shall    accompany  with   our 
best  wishes  on  the  occasion  of  their  first  visit 
to   our   cousins   across   the  water.     I  am  very 
grateful  to  the  committee  for  having  made  me 
your  mouthpiece  on  this  occasion,  although  I 
am  prepared  for  the  expression  of  some  surprise 
that  such  a  distinction  should  have  been  con- 
ferred on  a  mere  politician,  whose  professional 
avocations   have   so   little   in   common   at  first 
sight  with   the  art   to  which  our   guests   have 
devoted  their  lives.     Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he 
continued  after  the  interruption  of  laughter,  "  I 
see  that  you  have  anticipated  me.     That  is  the 
first  impression,  and  it  is  a  hasty  and  inaccurate 
one,  because   the  drama  which  has   been   pro- 
gressing for  so  many  centuries  on  the  boards  of 
St.   Stephen's,  which  has  had  the  longest  run 
of  any  play,   and  which  has  excited  a  certain 
amount   of   popular   interest    and  appreciation, 
justifies  my  presence  here  to-night. 

"  I  claim  for  the  House  of  Commons  that  we 
also  are  the  abstract  and  brief  chroniclers  of  the 
time — not  so  brief  as  we  might  be,  but  that  is  a 
detail — and  at  least  among  our  members  you  will 
find  the  most  versatile  actors  of  the  day.  Each 
man  in  his  time  plays  many  parts  ;    all  styles 


240  THE   KENDALS 

and  all  branches  of  the  profession  are  repre- 
sented. We  have  those  who  '  tear  passion  to 
tatters  ' — to  very  rags — and  we  have  others  who 
are  capable  of  nothing  but  inexplicable  dumb- 
show  and  noise.  We  have  our  leading  gentle- 
men, our  heavy  fathers,  our  light  comedians  ; 
and  there  are  clowns  who  forget  the  injunction 
of  Hamlet,  and  who  set  out  to  make  a  certain 
quality  of  spectators  laugh,  although  some  neces- 
sary questions  of  the  play  have  at  this  time 
to  be  considered.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  you 
will  see  that  there  is  a  competition  between  St. 
Stephen's  and  the  legitimate  drama,  and  that 
may  perhaps  account  for  the  fact,  which  I  deplore, 
that  when,  occasionally,  the  Legislature  concerns 
itself  with  the  dramatic  profession,  it  does  so 
in  a  certain  spirit  of  criticism  and  suspicion 
whichisaltogether  unworthy  of  the  subject.  .  .  . 
"  I  have  thought  sometimes  that,  with  all  our 
advantages,  the  tendency  of  the  age  is  to  too 
great  monotony,  and  that  therefore  we  ought  to 
welcome  anything  that  relieves  our  somewhat 
ordinary  but  colourless  existence.  The  imagina- 
tion of  men  has  to  be  cultivated  as  well  as  their 
material  existence  provided  for,  and  the  imagina- 
tion of  men  grows  on  the  creations  of  genius, 
which  are,  in  many  cases,  developed  for  us  and 


Photo  by] 


'    ♦   l,[W^ttJowd:  Gmve^ 
MR.    AND   MRS.   KENDAL   IN    "  DIPLOMACi-.';    * ',  I    '     ',  ,'  !      ,'    • 


AMERICA  241 

interpreted  by  the  skill  of  the  actor.  It  is  the 
actor  who  clothes  the  creations  of  genius,  who 
gives  them  life,  and  who  impresses  upon  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  men  the  thoughts  and 
words  of  the  greatest  writers  of  all  time.  I 
know  it  has  been  said  by  a  somewhat  jaundiced 
critic  that  an  actor  is  a  man  who  repeats  in- 
differently a  portion  of  a  tale  invented  by 
another ;  but  you  will  agree  with  me  that  that 
is  a  very  imperfect  and  insufficient  definition ; 
and  that  every  true  actor  imparts  something  of 
himself  to  the  creations  that  he  illustrates,  that 
he  supplements  and  completes  his  author ;  and 
I  think  it  is  probable  that  some  of  the  greatest 
literary  possessions  we  enjoy,  possessions  of  all 
time,  the  heritages  of  the  ages,  would  never 
have  seen  the  light  but  for  the  certainty  that 
they  would  find  competent  and  skilled  inter- 
pretation in  the  genius  of  the  actor. 

''I  can  understand  how  in  these  circumstances 
in  other  times  and  other  countries  the  State  has 
not  thought  it  beneath  its  duty  to  foster  and 
mature  the  stage  and  encourage  it  by  material 
aid  and  support.  Here,  according  to  our  wont, 
we  leave  everything  to  individual  effort.  We 
have  left  it  to  the  actors  themselves  to  maintain 
the  best  traditions  of  the  Enghsh  stage,  and  you 
17 


242  THE  KENDALS 

will  agree  with  me  that  foremost  among  living 
actors  our  guests  have  done  what  in  them  lay  to 
uphold  a  lofty  and  worthy  ideal.  The  school  of 
English  comedy,  the  school  which  holds  the 
mirror  up  to  nature,  and  which  has  depicted  for 
us  with  so  much  grace  and  simplicity  the  passing 
incidents  of  contemporary  life  and  manners,  has 
had  no  more  delicate  and  no  more  intelligent 
exponents. 

"  If  there  are  any  persons  still  who  think  that 
staginess,  that  a  mannered  gait  and  presentation 
are  essential  consequences  of  taking  to  the 
boards,  let  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  undeceive 
them.  They  have  been,  I  think  I  may  say, 
nurtured  on  the  stage ;  all  their  lives  have  been 
inseparably  connected  with  it.  We  may  also 
say  that  there  they  have  gained  their  education; 
that  they  learned  their  letters  in  the  '  Hies,' 
and  I  believe  it  is  historical  that  they  pursued 
their  courtship  at  the  '  wings.'  Since  then  they 
have  been  constantly  before  the  footlights,  yet 
they  remain  what  we  know  them — the  frank  and 
natural,  the  courteous  and  kindly  English  lady 
and  gentleman.  The  esteem  in  which  they  are 
held  on  this  side  of  the  water  may  be  judged  by 
this  gathering,  one  of  the  most  representative 
that  I  have  ever  had  the  honour  of  attending. 


AMEBICA  243 

"  Here  are  brought  together  representatives  of 
the  professions  of  the  law,  of  divinity — I  am 
glad  to  say — of  medicine,  politics,  and  judicial 
luminaries,  and  not  least  some  of  the  ablest  and 
foremost  representatives  of  the  profession  which 
our  guests  themselves  follow.  We  are  met  here 
to  honour  them.  We  are  met  here  to  show  our 
respect  for  their  private  worth  and  character,  as 
well  as  for  their  public  abilities  ;  and  we  bespeak 
for  them  kindly  welcome  from  our  kinsfolk — 
our  American  cousins.  We  are  confident  that 
their  talents  w411  justify  our  commendation,  and 
will  ensure  a  happy  result  to  the  new  enterprise 
in  which  they  are  embarking.  I  propose  to  you, 
my  lords,  ladies,  and  gentlemen — '  The  health 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal.'  " 

It  need  not  be  said  that  these  happy  remarks 
were  constantly  interrupted  by  applause  and 
other  tokens  of  approbation,  and  that  when  Mr. 
Kendal  rose  to  respond  to  them  he  was  received 
with  loud  cheering. 

"  Although  I  earn  my  hving,"  he  said,  "  by 
speaking  in  public,  public  speaking  is  by  no 
means  my  strong  point.  I  am  so  accustomed 
to  have  words  found  for  me — words  infinitely 
more  choice  than  I  could  find  for  myself — that 
on  this  occasion  I  am  indeed  much  at  a  loss  ; 


244  THE  KENDALS 

for  it  would  require  a  copious  selection  of  all  the 
most  grateful  phrases  in  the  English  language  to 
express,  even  in  an  inadequate  manner,  the 
feelings  with  which  Mrs.  Kendal  and  I  are 
inspired  by  this  most  remarkable  and  most 
significant  manifestation  of  your  friendship  and 
regard.  That  such  a  number  of  our  personal 
friends  should  have  assembled  this  evening  to 
wish  us  God-speed  on  the  long  journey  which  is 
before  us,  is  indeed  a  practical  proof  of  affection 
and  good-will,  of  which  we  may  well  be  proud, 
and  by  which  we  are  certainly  most  deeply 
touched.  We  see  around  us  many  old  friends 
who  have  for  years  rejoiced  with  us  when  we 
had  reason  to  rejoice,  and  sympathised  with  us 
in  our  times  of  trial.  We  see  many,  in  various 
positions  of  life,  who  have  encouraged  and  sus- 
tained us  with  unfailing  generosity ;  have  aided 
us  with  their  counsel,  and  have  sometimes 
corrected  us  when  we  were  wrong  with  whole- 
some criticism  and  needful  admonition.  We  see 
also,  to  our  delight,  many  stanch  friends  in  our 
own  profession  who  have  come  here  to-night  to 
join  in  this  demonstration  and  to  give  us  a  prac- 
tical assurance  of  their  friendship ;  dramatic 
authors,  too,  to  whose  talents  we  are  indebted 
for  many  plays  which  we  have  been  able  success- 


AMEBICA  245 

fully  to  interpret.  These  long  rows  of  friendly 
faces  bring  back  the  memories  of  many  a  first 
night  of  a  new  piece,  when  the  anxiety  with 
which  we  were  naturally  filled  was  relieved  by 
your  kindly  encouragement  and  your  generous 
consideration. 

"  I  shall  not  pretend  to  say  that  in  the  enter- 
prise which  we  are  about  to  undertake  we  are 
entirely  free  from  anxiety.  It  is  no  small  matter 
for  us  to  cross  the  broad  Atlantic  with  a  theat- 
rical company  and  their  equipment,  and  in  a 
fresh  and  untried  country  appeal  to  the  verdict 
of  a  new  audience.  But  our  venture  is  cheered 
by  this  signal  manifestation  of  your  cordiality 
and  good  wishes,  which  are  even  already  endorsed 
by  most  sjaiipathetic  assurances  of  welcome  that 
have  arrived  from  over  the  sea.  Naturally  we 
are  most  anxious  that  our  visit  to  America  should 
be  a  success,  and  to  attain  that  end  we  shall 
devote  all  the  abilities  we  possess,  all  the  re- 
sources we  can  command,  and  such  experience 
as  we  have  gained  in  the  course  of  our  profes- 
sional life.  It  is  our  ambition  not  only  to  succeed 
in  pleasing  the  American  public,  but  in  uphold- 
ing and  extending  the  repute  of  the  British 
dramatic  profession. 

"  If  anything,  sir,  could  enhance  the  gratifica- 


246  THE  KENDALS 

tion  and  pride  of  this  moment,  it  would  be  your 
presence  in  the  chair  on  this,  to  us,  one  of  the 
most  interesting  social  events  of  our  lives,  and 
the  presence  also  of  the  accomplished  lady  who 
bears  your  name.  Her  presence  here  this  even- 
ing we  accept  as  a  happy  augury  of  our  reception 
in  the  great  country  which  is  the  land  of  her 
birth.  To  the  kind  and  generous  and  all  too 
flattering  words  you  have  used  in  reference  to 
us,  I  am,  as  I  have  said,  wholly  unable  to  make 
an  adequate  reply;  but  they  have  sunk  deeply 
into  our  hearts,  and  will  never  be  forgotten.  I 
have  never  felt  my  incapacity  as  a  speech-maker 
so  thoroughly  as  I  do  now.  I  would  fain  give 
suitable  expression  to  what  I  feel  and  what  I 
know  my  wife  feels  at  this  moment.  I  can  only 
say  to  this  most  brilliant  assemblage,  to  the 
distinguished  statesman  who  presides  over  it, 
and  to  every  one  who  has  taken  part  in  organis- 
ing this  magnificent  entertainment,  we  offer  our 
truest,  our  most  sincere,  and  our  most  grateful 
thanks;  and  we  trust  that  on  our  return  from 
America  we  shall  find  that  we  have  done  nothing 
to  forfeit  your  esteem  or  to  lessen  your  affec- 
tionate goodwill." 

When  the  applause  which  followed  this  manly 
and  well  delivered  speech  (Mr.  Kendal  had  no 


AMEBICA  247 

occasion  to  apologise  for  his  oratory)  had  died 
away,  Mr.  Chamberlain  again  rose  and 
said : — 

"  I  have  now  to  complete  these  proceedings 
with  the  performance  of  a  most  pleasant  duty. 
It  is  to  ask  Mrs.  Kendal  that  she  will  be  pleased 
to  accept  this  jewel  as  a  slight  token  of  the 
regard  of  her  friends.  It  is  a  testimony  of  our 
gratitude  to  her  for  the  many  pleasant  hours  we 
have  spent  in  listening  to  her.  It  is  a  recog- 
nition of  the  brilHant  creations  of  her  genius 
which  will  always  be  inseparably  connected  with 
her  name.  In  times  not  so  very  far  removed 
from  us  the  profession  of  the  actor  had  fallen 
into  temporary  disrepute,  and  we  read  how  the 
most  gifted  French  actress  of  her  time,  although 
feted  and  adulated  in  her  public  career,  was  yet 
the  subject  of  social  exclusion  during  her  Ufe- 
time,  and  at  her  death  was  denied  by  churhsh 
priests  the  rites  of  the  Church  to  which  she 
belonged.  And,  if  now,  evidences  of  such 
bigotry  and  intolerance  have  almost  disappeared 
from  amongst  us  it  is  largely  owing— chiefly 
owing — to  those  who,  Hke  Mrs.  Kendal,  have 
shown  how  to  combine  the  virtues  of  the  woman 
with  the  talents  of  the  actress,  and  who  have 
ennobled  the  profession  to  which  they  belonged 


248  THE  KENDALS 

by  the  personal  dignity  and  by  the  weight  of 
character  which  they  exhibited.  Therefore  it  is 
to  the  woman,  as  well  as  to  the  actress,  that  we 
pay  our  homage.  We  ask  you,  Mrs.  Kendal,  to 
accept  and  to  wear  this  slight  memento  of  our 
esteem  ;  and  we  couple  it  with  a  most  earnest 
and  sincere  wish  of  many  years  of  honoured  life 
and  continued  happiness." 

Mr.  Chamberlain  then  handed  to  Mrs.  Kendal 
a  beautiful  diamond  star,  four  inches  in  diameter, 
formed  of  very  pure  and  brilliant  stones,  mounted 
in  a  blue  velvet  case  with  the  inscription : — 
"  Presented  to  Mrs.  Kendal  by  her  friends : 
July  16,  1889." 

How  Mrs.  Kendal  was  received  when  she  rose 
to  tender  her  thanks  may  easily  be  imagined. 
For  a  moment  the  heartiness  and  manifest 
affection  of  her  friends  seemed  almost  to  over- 
whelm her,  but  she  soon  took  courage,  and,  in 
the  voice  many  of  us  have  learned  to  love  so 
well,  said  : — 

"  In  what  words  can  I  convey  to  you  the 
expression  of  my  gratitude  ?  I  thank  you  all, 
again  and  again,  not  only  for  your  beautiful 
gift,  but  also  for  the  flattering  words  that  have 
accompanied  it.  The  intrinsic  value  of  your 
present,  great  as  it  is,  is  of  less  account  in  my 


AMERICA  249 

eyes  than  the  kindly  feelings  that  have  prompted 
its  offering,  and  not  the  least  gratifying  feature 
in  connection  with  it  is  the  knowledge  that 
much  time  and  thought  have  been  devoted  to  it 
by  my  friends  and  confrtres  who  have  little  of 
either  to  spare.  I  may  have  my  own  opinion, 
as  others  may  have  theirs,  as  to  whether  I  merit 
all  that  has  been  said  of  me  in  this  room  to- 
night ;  but  one  thing  I  may  say,  that  however 
much  our  past  efforts  may  fall  short  of  the  praise 
accorded  them,  all  my  future  shall  be  devoted  to 
my  endeavour  to  deserve  them. 

"  My  husband,  and  the  members  of  our  com- 
pany, and  my  poor  self,  are  about  to  appear 
before  new  and  critical  audiences.  In  the  face 
of  such  an  ordeal  to  come,  it  is  a  great  and 
valuable  encouragement  to  know  that  we  are 
bearing  with  us  the  good  wishes  of  those  who, 
although  we  are  privileged  to  call  our  friends, 
are  not  the  less  impartial  judges.  It  is  to  me  a 
happy  omen  that  among  those  who  are  here  to 
wish  us  God-speed  is  Mrs.  Chamberlain,  who 
comes  from  one  of  the  most  cultivated  and 
intellectual  cities  in  the  Qnited  States.  When 
I  recall  the  welcome  extended  on  the  other  side 
to  my  brothers  and  sisters  in  art,  and  the  appre- 
ciation shown  on  this  side  of  the  visits  of  our 


250  THE  KENDALS 

American  colleagues,  I  am  emboldened  to  feel 
very  sanguine  as  to  our  venture.  Though  in 
America  the  canons  of  artistic  taste  are  exalted 
and  exacting,  there  is  always  a  kindliness  which 
will  condone  our  shortcomings. 

"  I  know  not  whether  Mrs.  Chamberlain,  who 
has  done  so  much  to  draw  the  two  countries 
together,  will  consent  to  view  the  exchange  of 
artistic  visits  as  international  incidents.  The 
two  countries  are  united  not  only  by  blood  and 
kinship,  but  by  artistic  sympathy  and  interests, 
in  those  domestic  bonds  of  which  we  have  a 
happy  instance  here  to-night.  I  fear  I  have 
spoken  too  long,  but  the  circumstances  must 
plead  my  excuse.  With  such  surroundings, 
such  cordial  encouragements,  such  dear  old 
friends  in  public  and  private  life,  a  woman  may 
well  be  forgiven  for  departing  from  the  silent 
habit  of  her  sex.  Let  me  again  thank  you  and 
assure  you  of  my  gratitude  for  this  lovely  gift, 
which  I  shall  treasure  and  wear  with  pleasure 
and  with  pride — 

"  '  So  if  your  friendship  keep  us  in  your  view, 
And  if  remembrance  die  not  in  your  heart, 
There  will  be  less  of  sorrow  in  adieu. 
And  this  farewell  be  healed  of  a  smart. 
Seas  may  divide  us  then,  yet  sunder  not — 
They  are  not  absent  who  are  not  forgot.'  " 


AMEBIC  A  251 

Mrs.  Kendal's  speech  and  her  perfect  dehvery 
of  these  lines  not  only  delighted  her  listeners— it 
absolutely  moved  them.  Nothing  could  have 
been  better  or  more  exactly  suited  to  the  oc- 
casion. Then  followed  excellent  speeches  by 
Sir  Charles  Kussell,  Mr.  J.  L.  Toole,  Mr.  John 
Hare,  and  a  memorable  evening  came  to  a 
close. 

In  due  course  the  Kendals  crossed  the  Atlantic, 
and  their  English  friends  waited  anxiously  for 
news  of  their  first  appearance  and  reception  in 
America.  They  had  not  long  to  wait.  It  came 
quickly,  and  in  the  best  possible  form.  Success  ! 
Supreme  and  unmitigated  success !  That  was 
the  message  that  the  cable  brought  us,  and 
when  we  received  the  fuller  reports  of  new^spaper 
and  letter,  it  was  evident  that  the  Kendals  had 
at  once  jumped  into  the  hearts  of  the  American 
people.  They  may  have  been  famiUar  with  most 
of  the  pieces  in  which  they  appeared,  but  the 
charm  of  their  acting  made  them  new  to  them. 
The  refinement  and  delicacy  of  their  art  ap- 
pealed to  them;  they  understood  and  appre- 
ciated the  lightness  of  their  humour  and  the 
tenderness  of  their  pathos;  they  crowded  the 
theatres  in  which  they  appeared,  they  sought 
their  society  and  showered  upon  them  compli- 


252  THE  KENDALS 

ments,    congratulations,  and   marks  of    honour 
and  regard. 

Mrs.  Kendal  at  once  became  the  reigning 
favourite  both  of  men  and  women  of  all  classes ; 
and  with  regard  to  Mr.  Kendal,  a  matter  oc- 
curred that  gave  infinite  pleasure  to  his  English 
friends  and  comrades.  In  London  he  had,  in 
the  Buckstone  days,  been  known  as  a  rising 
young  actor  at  the  Haymarket,  and  step  by 
step,  and  almost  imperceptibly,  his  art  had 
ripened  and  matured;  but,  as  we  have  seen  in 
these  pages,  he  had,  through  manly  loyalty  to 
his  wife,  often  contented  himself  with  compara- 
tively mediocre  parts.  This  state  of  things  had 
become  accepted,  and  many  of  us  had  felt  that 
it  was  never  really  seen  how  well  he  was  play- 
ing, or  how  seldom  he  got  his  full  measure  of 
justice.  It  was  a  difficult  position  to  alter,  for 
Mr.  Kendal  is  the  last  man  in  the  world  to  blow 
his  own  trumpet,  or  to  encourage  others  to  do  it 
for  him.  In  America  he  was  a  new  man,  and 
both  critics  and  the  public  at  once  hailed  him  as 
a  perfect  actor.  "  Why  have  we  not  heard  more 
of  him  ?  "  was  the  question  asked  by  every  one, 
and  no  one  was  more  gratified  by  this  spon- 
taneous expression  of  opinion  than  Mrs.  Kendal. 
Mr.  Kendal  took  it,  as  he  does  all  things,  very 


AMERICA  253 

calmly  and  modestly,  maintaining  his  ground 
and  constantly  increasing  his  popularity. 

Of  their  first  night  in  the  new  country  I  must 
let  a  famous  American  writer  on  things  thea- 
trical speak,  and  he  must  do  so  in  his  own 
characteristic  way.  His  head-lines,  which  run 
as  follows,  are  reassuring  : — 

NEW  YOEK  LED  CAPTIVE. 

UNQUALIFIED    SUCCESS    OF    ME.    AND    MRS.    KENDAL. 

The  ice  bi-oken  and  the  public  is  theirs — The  audience 
particularly  charmed  by  the  personal  magnetism  of 
Mrs.  Kendal — "A  Scrap  of  Paper." 

But,  as  any  one  who  reads  the  following  will  see, 
the  artists  must  at  first  have  had  their  moments 
of  misgiving  and  cruel  anxiety. 

Breaking  the  ice  (says  my  authority)  was 
the  operation  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  were  called 
upon  to  perform  on  the  occasion  of  their  first 
appearance  before  an  American  audience.  Some- 
thing of  the  autumnal  chill  that  reigned  in  the 
clear  moonlight  outside  seemed  to  have  crept 
into  the  auditorium  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Theatre 
when  the  curtain  arose  on  Sardou's  familiar  and 
most  ingenious  comedy  of  "  A  Scrap  of  Paper." 
The  house  was  crow^ded  to  the  doors,  familiar 
''  first  night "  faces  were  seen  on  every  side,  and 


254  THE   KENDALS 

although  fashion  was  less  generally  represented 
than  it  will  be  later  in  the  week,  art  and  litera- 
ture made  an  excellent  showing. 

But  in  spite  of  the  evident  disposition  to 
extend  the  heartiest  of  welcomes  to  the  distin- 
guished strangers,  the  atmosphere  of  the  place 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  first  act  was 
glacial,  and  fairly  rivalled  in  reserve  the  famous 
Alpine  chilliness  said — by  malicious  enemies,  no 
doubt — to  be  characteristic  of  the  first  night 
assemblages  of  the  modern  Athens.  Gradually, 
however,  this  reserve  gave  way  beneath  the 
genial  influence  of  Mr.  Kendal,  who  received  a 
warm  reception  the  instant  the  audience  espied 
the  face  and  figure  of  the  representative  of 
Prosper  Couramont,  re-named  in  this  thoroughly 
anglicised  version,  Colonel  Blake.  Those  familiar 
with  the  peculiarities  of  a  New  York  first  night 
audience  began  to  see  that  the  spectators  had 
taken  kindly  to  the  cheery  personaHty  and 
eminently  natural  style  of  the — to  them — new 
English  actor. 

Still,  however,  the  ice  refused  to  yield  entirely ; 
it  was  evident  that  the  audience  was  waiting  for 
somebody.  Unsophisticated  spectators  thought 
that  they  had  espied  that  "  somebody  "  when 
the  young  lady  who  assumed  the  character  of 


AMERICA  255 

Lady  Ingram  made  her  appearance,  and  Miss 
Violet  Vanbragh  was  favoured  with  a  "recep- 
tion "  which  at  the  beginning  was  intended  by  a 
small  contingent  for  the  famous  "  somebody  " 
the  first  nighters,  "  extra  dry  "  and  frappe  on 
ice,  so  to  speak,  were  evidently  waiting  to 
welcome.  Sardou's  hrst  act,  which  expounds  the 
motive  of  his  play,  draws  near  its  close  ;  the 
approaching  arrival  of  a 

CERTAIN    MISS    SUSAN    HARTLEY 

has  been  mentioned  about  the  middle  of  the  act, 
and  still  no  Susan,  black-eyed  or  otherwise. 
Mr.  Kendal,  cleverly  aided  by  Miss  Violet  Van- 
brugh,  and  by  Henry  Irving' s  former  assistant, 
Mr.  Wenman,  is  doing  his  best  to  lay  the  ghost 
of  New  York's  idol  and  canonised  saint,  the  late 
John  Lester  Wallack,  when  there  is  a  voice  from 
the  back  of  the  stage,  a  famiHar  voice  to  many, 
but  now  strangely  faint  and  tremulous  through- 
out its  silvery  tones,  and  the  "  somebody  "  steps 
for  the  first  time  before  an  American  audience. 
The  traditional  "  thunders  of  applause  "  await 
no  further  signal  than  the  entrance  of  Madge 
Kobertson  Kendal,  who,  all  alive  with  intense 
nervousness,  bows,  and  finally  kisses  her  hands 
to  a  welcome  truly  royal. 


256  THE  KENDALS 

Have  you  ever  seen  the  frost  on  the  ground 
melt  under  the  rays  of  the  sun?  The  com- 
parison is  the  only  one  that  can  convey  an 
idea  of  how  the  morgue  of  one  of  the  coldest 
first  night  audiences  on  record  yielded  to  the 
charm  invariably  exerted  throughout  her  career 
by  this  fortunate  actress.  For  a  few  instants, 
to  be  sure,  this  generous  "reception"  finally  at 
an  end,  the  assemblage  gave  itself  time  enough 
to  make  up  its  mind  and  exercise  the  inde- 
pendent judgment  characteristic  of  Americans 
in  every  relation  of  life.  But  the  celerity  with 
which  our  country  people  do  things  is  as  pro- 
nounced as  their  refusal  to  have  their  minds 
made  up  for  them  by  the  verdict  of  ' '  effete 
monarchies,"  and  this  particular  audience  lost 
not  a  moment  in  deciding  that  they  liked  Mrs. 
Kendal  enormously  and  that  Mr.  Kendal  was 
alike  "the  man  for  their  money" — and  their 
applause. 

To  not  a  few  people  present  it  seemed  a 
curious  thing  to  behold  Mrs.  Kendal,  even  for 
a  moment,  the  object  of  inspection  and  critical 
estimate  by  a  whole  body  of  playgoers.  Those 
who  had  followed  her  throughout  any  of  the 
phases  of  her  rich  artistic  career  experienced 
a  singular  sensation  in  separating  the  reigning 


AMEBIC  A  257 

favourite  of  the  English  stage  from  the  cUhutante 
in  a  new  country.  Was  she  nervous?  Was 
Ellen  Terry  nervous  as  she  came  into  view  as 
the  queen  of  Charles  I.  in  the  mimic  grounds 
of  Hampton  Court  at  the  Star  Theatre  ?  Was 
Helena  Modjeska  troubled  when  she  staked  her 
artistic  future  on  a  first  appearance  in  London  ? 
The  voice  in  which  Mrs.  Kendal  spoke  Susan 
Hartley's  first  words  to  the  effect,  "  Well,  here  I 
am  at  last !  "  sounded  faint  and  far  away,  and 
doubtless  seemed  in  her  own  ears  like  the  voice 
of   another  person  ;  but  the 

LONG-CONTINUED    RECEPTION 

that  broke  out  on  her  appearance,  and  re- 
fused for  some  moments  to  die  away,  must 
have  convinced  her  that  she  was  in  the  house 
of  her  friends,  and  once  the  plunge  into  this 
cold  bath  of  footlights  and  audience  w^as  over, 
the  consummate  actress  asserted  herself.  The 
nervous  tension  apparent  on  her  entrance  was, 
moreover,  an  advantage,  for  seldom,  never 
perhaps,  has  Mrs.  Kendal  played  better. 
"  This  audience  is  going  to  have  a  treat " 
was  the  verdict  of  those  familiar  with  the 
methods  of  the  actress  as  the  curtain  fell  on 
the  first  act.  Already  the  ice  had  melted, 
18 


258  THE  KENDALS 

not  a  trace  remained  of  it,  and  when  Susan 
Hartley  opposed  her  woman's  wit  to  man's 
cunning  as  she  took  Colonel  Blake's  arm  to 
go  into  luncheon,  a  couple  of  warm  recalls 
said  "We  like  you  !  " 

Thus  far  the  audience  had  seen  a  charming 
w^oman,  admirably  well  dressed,  a  sympathetic 
and  essentially  natural  actress,  who  struck  at 
once  the  keynote  of  the  personage — an  English 
spinster.  Miss  Susan  Hartley,  mistress  of  arts, 
replaces  in  this  version  the  woman  of  the  world 
of  Sardou.  The  distinction  is  delicate,  but  the 
opportunity  is  there,  and  Mrs.  Kendal  has  yet 
to  miss  an  artistic  opportunity.  With  the 
second  act  comes,  however,  the  chance  for  a 
veritable  tour  de  force.  The  present  writer,* 
to  whom  Mrs.  Kendal's  acting  in  this  particular 
part  was  a  novelty,  has  seen  "  Les  Pattes  de 
Mouche "  played  in  the  original  French,  not 
only  by  a  troupe  headed  by  an  excellent  actress, 
Madame  Juliette  Clarence,  but  at  the  Comedie 
Fran9aise  itself  by  Madame  Blanche  Pierson, 
with  Coquelin  as  Prosper,  and  in  English  at 
Wallack's  Theatre  by  Lester  Wallack  and 
Miss  Rose  Coghlan ;  but  the  second  act  had 
not  gone  far   before   it   was   evident   that   one 

^-  Writing  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  "  Walsingham." 


AMERICA  259 

who  had  not  witnessed  Mrs.  Kendal's  Suzanna 
— or  Susan — had  never  seen  Sardou's  comedy 
either  in  the  original  or  the  adaptation.  For 
the  acting  of  such  clever  women  as  Kose 
Coghlan  and  Blanche  Pierson  is  mere  child's 
play,  art  in  its  swaddHng  clothes,  compared 
to  the  achievement  of  the  gifted  comedieiine 
who  was  Madge  Kobertson,  and  on  this  occa- 
sion every  resource  of  her  temperament  and 
training  sprang  into  play. 

The  act  is  to  some  extent  a  monologue,  since 
Susan  Hartley  never  leaves  the  stage  from  the 
moment  she  enters  until  the  curtain  falls.  The 
part  is  therefore  peculiarly  difficult ;  it  demands 
an  infinite  variety,  or  else  it  would  be  tedious. 
Mrs.  Kendal  is  fully  equal  to  the  occasion. 
She  embellishes  the  hunt  after  the  "  scrap 
of  paper"  with  the  most  brilliant  variations 
of  pose,  voice,  facial  expression,  and  gesture. 
The  use  of  her  hands,  for  example,  is  simply 
eloquent.  Her  execution  of  the  hysterical 
speech,  punctuated  with  the  nervous  query 
"Don't  you  see?"  would  alone  stamp  her 
as  a  great  actress^  and  so  natural  is  she  at 
all  times  that  she  never  seems  to  be  "making 
points "  after  the  crude  fashion  of  inferior 
actresses.      Considered    as   a    whole,    her    per- 


260  THE  KENDALS 

formance  of  this  marvellous  second  act,  which 
seems  easy  enough,  but  is  so  difficult,  is  the 
most  briUiant  piece  of  comedy  acting  contem- 
poraneous New  Yorkers,  Londoners,  Parisians, 
have  witnessed,  and  the  wonder  of  it  is  it 
grows  in  the  memory,  and,  after  it  is  over, 
the  variations  which  this  accomplished  artiste 
has  executed  linger,  without  ever  departing 
from  reality,  in  the  memory  like  the  silvery 
embellishments  of  a  great  singer.  When  the 
curtain  fell  on  the  second  act  three  enthu- 
siastic recalls,  in  which  cheers  were  mingled 
with  plaudits,  testified  to  the  dehght  of  the 
audience;  for  New  York  "first-nighters"  are 
experts,  and  know  an  artist  when  they  see  one. 
While  Mrs.  Kendal  was  echpsing  all  pre- 
decessors, Mr.  Kendal  was  wrestling  with  a 
memory  dear  to  New  Yorkers,  that  of  Lester 
Wallack,  as  a  cynical  and  Ouidaesque  Prosper 
Couramont.  Lester  Wallack  was  unquestion- 
ably an  admirable  actor  of  the  romantic  school, 
but  why  "always  partridge"?  Why  not  fare- 
well partridge,  welcome  grouse?  Mr.  Kendal's 
Colonel  Blake  is  not  Lester  Wallack's  Prosper 
Couramont  but — profound  distinction — it  is 
Mr.  Kendal's  Colonel  Blake,  and  "  We  hke 
you!"  is  the  verdict  of  the  chilliest  of   "first- 


AMEBICA  261 

nighters"  of  the  season.  There  is  an  ease,  a 
naturalness,  a  personal  magnetism  in  Mr. 
Kendal's  work  that  render  him  a  welcome 
figure.  There  is  nothing  grand,  gloomy,  or 
pecuhar  about  his  hero  of  "A  Scrap  of  Paper"; 
he  does  not  suggest  a  blighted  being,  but  he 
makes  him  a  sympathetic,  prepossessing,  sus- 
ceptible man  of  the  world,  and  never  forces 
the  note  that  separates  the  natural  from  the 
artificial. 

The  treatment  of  the  play,  from  its  adaptation 
to  English  life  to  the  details  with  which  it  is 
embelhshed,  is  eminently  representative  of  the 
modern  school  of  London  acting  so  closely 
alhed  to  the  French  in  some  respects,  so  dif- 
ferent from  it  in  others.  The  third  act  "went" 
^vith  great  spirit,  and  when  the  final  curtain 
fell,  to  be  raised  repeatedly,  an  unusual  com- 
pliment in  New  York,  the  verdict  of  the  house, 
so    cold   at   first, 

TRANSFORMED  THE  ATMOSPHERE 

into  couleur  cle  rose.  There  is  an  American 
custom  always  honoured  in  the  observance  on 
an  occasion  like  this— it  is  that  of  demanding 
a  speech.  Mrs.  Kendal  could  doubtless  have 
made   a  graceful   one,    but  her    lord    spoke  for 


262  THE  KENDALS 

her,  and  with  much  sincerity — and  brevity — 
clasping  his  wife's  right  hand  so  gracefully 
within  his  own  that  they  made  the  prettiest  of 
pictures  as  they  stood  thus,  the  lady  in  the 
"smartest"  of  dinner-gowns — black  moire  embel- 
lished with  lace  and  crisp  ribbons,  and  setting 
off  by  contrast  the  neck  and  arms  and  the 
numerous  corsage  ornaments  among  which 
blazed  (no  doubt  the  Enghsh  "send-off"  gift) 
a  huge  diamond  sun.  It  was  the  general 
verdict  that  she  never  looked  in  more  radiant 
health,  so  graceful  or  so  equipped  to  conquer, 
not  only  as  an  artist  but  as  a  woman  ;  and  it 
is  very  much  to  be  doubted  if  Madge  Eobertson 
in  her  teens  ever  acted  with  the  wealth  of 
resource  displayed  by  Mrs.  Kendal,  who  comes 
to  us  in  the  holiday  time  of  her  powers. 

Such  is  the  veracious  chronicle  of  the  Ken- 
dais'  famous  first  night  in  America. 

In  a  few  days  the  satisfactory  head-lines  were 
out  again,  and  to  this  effect — 

AN    ENTIEELY    NEW    HEEOINE. 
MBS.  Kendal's  bendering  of  the  chaeacteb  of  claire. 

HER  ASSUMPTION  OF  THE  LEADING  BOLE  IN  "  THE 
lEONMASTEB,"  COMFABED  WITH  THAT  OF  JANE  HADING 
AND    OTHERS.       A   PAST    MISTBESS    OF    TEARS. 


AMEBIC  A  263 

Without  going  into  the  details  of  this  success 
it  must  be  noted  that  New  York  (where  both 
Madame  Jane  Hading — the  original  Claire  de 
Beaupre — and  Madame  Sarah  Bernhardt  had 
been  seen  in  "  Le  Maitre  de  Forges")  considered 
that  Pinero  had  improved  on  Ohnet,  and  the 
Kendals  had  echpsed  their  predecessors,  whether 
French  or  Enghsh.  "  Le  Maitre  de  Forges," 
said  a  critic,  "  was  a  skeleton  made  by 
machinery  ;  Pinero  put  flesh  on  the  skeleton's 
bones  and  covered  up  the  wires  that  held  it 
together.  This  done,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal 
crowned  it  with  laurel  and  roses.  Mr.  Kendal 
is  a  better  actor  than  poor  Damala;  and  charming 
as  is  the  performance  of  Jane  Hading,  beauti- 
ful as  is  that  Madonna  face,  well  as  she  poses, 
Mrs.  Kendal  is  an  exponent  of  dramatic  art  un- 
questionably her  superior."  As  for  Madame 
Sarah  Bernhardt's  delineation  of  Claire  he 
declared  that  her  "  individuahty  '  swore  at '  the 
personage,"  and  he  summed  up  with  the  words, 
"  'The  Ironmaster'  is,  in  short,  from  the  acting 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  and  the  adaptation  by 
Pinero,  down  to  the  excellent  performance  of 
the  minor  parts,  and  the  atmosphere  of  polite 
society,  preserved  in  every  detail  of  the  repre- 
sentation, characteristic  of  a  hrst-class  London 
production." 


264  THE  EENDALS 

It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  the  Kendals 
through  their  first  American  tour,  which,  socially 
as  well  as  professionally,  was  aptly  summed  up 
at  the  time  as  a  prolonged  triumphal  march. 
They  became  the  hero  and  heroine  of  the  day, 
and  of  course  the  lady  was  the  recipient  of  many 
verses  from  unknown  but  warm-hearted  and 
enthusiastic  rhymesters.  Let  me  quote  the 
following — 

TO   THALIA. 

A   THANKSGIVING    FOK   MES.    KENDAL's    ADVENT. 

0  gentle  Goddess,  turn  thy  ear 

To  hear  our  grateful  song  ; 
Leave  cool  Parnassus,  and  draw  near 

Where  mortals  press  and  throng  ; 

With  all  thy  gentle  art  inspired 

To  modern  Athens'  bower, 
Thou'st  sent  just  what  we  most  desired — 

The  choicest,  sweetest  flower. 

To  beauty  thou  hast  added  sense  ; 

To  sense  a  grace  so  rare 
That  naught  can  be  thy  recompense 

For  one  so  good  so  fair. 

This  "  Scrap  of  Paper"  doth  attest. 

My  "  Lnpulse  "  is  to  try 
To  see  "  The  Weaker  Sex  "  at  best 

In  Mrs.  Kendal's  eye. 


AMERICA 

The  good  "  Queen's  Shilling"  to  attend 

I'd  stoop  to  one  "  White  Lie  "  ; 
An  "Ironmaster's  "  will  would  bond 

When  Mrs.  Kendal's  nigh. 

But  ah  !  Thalia,  hoar  me  now, 

As  these  poor  lines  I  pen, 
At  Mrs.  Kendal's  shrine  I  bow, 

A  Goddess  among  men. 

Accompanied  by  this  quaint  effusion  came  a 
droll  note  in  which  the  bard  said,  "  No  dis- 
paragement to  Mr.  Kendal  that  he  is  left  out  ;  I 
leave  his  praises,  and  they  are  loud,  to  the  other 
sex."  And  to  this,  much  to  Mrs.  Kendal's 
amusement,  he  added,  "Perhaps  it  is  due  to 
propriety  to  add  that  I  am  a  married  man,  the 
father  of  a  family  of  small  children,  and  per- 
fectly harmless." 

It  was  on  her  return  to  New  York,  after  this 
her  first  tour,  that  Mrs.  Kendal  said  to  a 
friend — 

"A  thing  that  has  deeply  impressed  me  has 
been  the  distinct  characteristics  prevaihng  in 
each  city.  Boston  is  not  in  any  way  like  to 
New  York,  nor  Philadelphia  to  Chicago.  I 
could  no  more  confound  any  one  of  them  with 
another  than  I  could  mistake  a  Philadelphian 
for  a  New  Yorker.     They  are  themselves,  and 


266  THE   KENDALS 

themselves  alone.  No  city  has  any  idea  of 
the  powers  and  capabilities  of  its  neighbours ; 
because  of  the  distance  between  them  it  seems 
impossible  that  they  should  have.  What  does 
New  York  know  of  Philadelphia's  magnificent 
charities  and  institutions,  or  what  knows  Boston 
of  Baltimore's  places  of  help  ?  Your  cities  are 
so  scattered,  and  your  distances  so  great — so 
enormously  great  —  that  such  knowledge  is 
impossible.  Each  has  its  marks  of  indi- 
viduality, just  as  all  are  possessed  with  the 
common  virtue  or  grace — I  know  not  which 
to  term  it — of  hospitality.  We  had  read  of 
American  hospitality,  we  had  heard  of  it,  but 
now  we  have  seen,  enjoyed,  and  experienced  it, 
and  I  can  easily  say  there  is  nothing  like  it  the 
world  over. 

"  Such  cordiality  and  kindness  I  have  never 
before  encountered.  And  I  have  been  able  only 
in  a  slight  degree  to  accept  of  this  hospitality 
for  various  reasons.  My  work,  unfortunately, 
requires  so  much  of  my  time  ;  rehearsals  are 
constantly  necessary,  for  we  are  always  flying 
from  one  city  to  another,  and  in  each  place  we 
have  to  begin  work  afresh.  And  then  the  very 
limited  length  of  our  stay  in  the  different  cities 
has  helped  to  prevent  me  knowing  more  inti- 


AMEBIC  A  267 

niately  the  charming  people  I  have  had  the  good 
fortune  to  meet.  But  to  know  that  this  journey, 
which  has  meant  to  me  nine  months'  separation 
from  my  children,  my  home,  and  all  my  oldest 
friends,  constant  traveUing,  the  facing  of  new 
audiences  nightly,  and  of  new  cities  almost 
weekly,  that  this  journey  has  brought  me  many 
new  warm  friends,  and  has  given,  perhaps,  much 
pleasure  to  those  friends,  is  most  satisfactory." 

And  so,  "  bringing  their  sheaves  with  them," 
the  Kendals  returned  to  London,  and  on  the 
afternoon  of  June  26,  1890,  were  entertained 
at  a  "  Home  Welcome,"  which  the  members  of 
the  "  send  of  "  dinner  committee  had  organised 
at  the  Hotel  Metropole.  It  was  a  very  informal, 
but  a  very  pleasant  affair.  In  gracefully  chosen 
words  Miss  Genevieve  Ward  bade  them,  on 
behalf  of  all  present,  "  Welcome,"  and  Mr. 
Kendal  in  responding  laid  special  stress  on  the 
right  royal  way  in  which  they  had  been  socially 
received  and  entertained  in  America,  and  of  the 
many  delightful  people  they  had  met  there,  and 
could  now  claim  as  friends. 

At  home  the  Kendals  talked  enthusiastically 
of  their  trans-Atlantic  reception,  and  their  pretty 
drawing-room  in  Harley  Street  was  full  of  the 
beautiful  souvenirs  that  had  been   given  them, 


268  THE   KENDALS 

from  handsome  pieces  of  silver  to  a  little  model 
of  a  Philadelphian  Quakeress  in  the  primitive 
dress  of  her  faith  (a  quaint  costume  rarely  seen 
in  England  now),  the  gift  of  some  simple 
"friend"  who  wished  to  do  honour  to  the 
English  visitors. 

"How  did  I  like  America?"  said  Mrs. 
Kendal  in  my  hearing,  and  replying  to  an  often 
repeated  question.  "Well,  I  hardly  know  how 
to  describe  it,  and  yet  seem  to  be  quite  just  to 
England.  I  should  not  like  it  to  be  thought 
that  we  did  not  appreciate  the  cordiality  of 
English  audiences,  but,  you  know,  they've 
coined  a  verb  '  to  enthuse,'  and  they  act  up 
to  it.  We  expected,  from  what  we  had  heard, 
to  find  the  Americans  wanted  their  acting 
broad,  but  we  found  their  perceptions  quick  as 
thought.  Jefferson  told  us  when  he  was  over 
here  that  you  could  take  an  American  audience 
with  a  turn  of  the  eye,  and  you  can.  They  can 
appreciate  finesse  in  acting  as  well  as  any  play- 
goers." 

"  Yes,"  echoed  Mr.  Kendal,  "  we  went 
across,  not  knowing  how  we  should  be 
received,  advertised  ourselves  just  as  we  do 
here,  and  we  found  ourselves  welcomed  every- 
where.    We  found   the   American  people  more 


AMERICA  269 

hospitable  and  friendly  than  ever  we  could  have 
expected." 

Indeed  they  could  find  no  words  in  which  to 
convey  a  full  account  of  the  pleasure  their  visit 
had  given  them,  and  the  gratitude  with  which 
it  had  inspired  them. 

Delighted  as  their  English  friends  were  with 
the  "running-over"  measure  of  their  success, 
they  were  somewhat  regretful  to  know  that  they 
were  almost  immediately  to  start  on  a  second 
tour.  But  x\merican  hay  was  waiting  to  be 
made — in  America  the  sun  was  shining — and 
they  very  wisely  set  out  to  gather  in  their 
harvest. 

The  welcome  they  received  was  as  warm  as 
ever,  and  amongst  other  productions  Pinero's 
"  The  Squire  "  met  with  abundant  favour.  And 
so  the  scent  of  the  Old  World  hay  was  wafted 
over  the  ocean  and  across  the  footlights  of  the 
New  World  !  On  the  first  night  of  "  The 
Squire  "  they  were  applauded,  recalled,  and 
applauded  again,  and  every  possible  means  was 
taken  by  an  enthusiastic  audience  to  make 
them  understand  that  they  were  favourites. 
In  speaking  of  this  satisfactory  evening  a 
critic  said,  "  An  American  audience  never 
tires   of    seeing    Mr.    and    Mrs.    Kendal   make 


270 


THE  KENDALS 


love.  They  appear  to  be  giving  lessons  not  in 
the  art  but  in  the  experience."  After  this  tour 
it  was  hoped  that  they  would  once  more  settle 
down  in  England,  but  they  were  still  wanted  on 
"  the  other  side,"  and  very  soon  the  follo^ving 
announcement  appeared  : — 


ME.  AND  MES.  KENDAL. 

Under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Daniel  Frohman. 

Third  and  Last  American  Tour, 

1891-92. 


Oct. 

Nov 
Nov 
Nov 
Dec, 
Dec, 
Dec.  14, 
Dec.  28, 
Jan.  4, 
Jan.  11, 
Jan.  18, 
Jan.  25, 
Jan.  26, 
Jan.  27, 
Jan.  28, 
Feb.  1, 
Feb.  8, 
Feb.  15, 
Feb.  18, 
Feb.  19, 
Feb.  20, 
Feb.  22, 
Feb.  25, 


New  York   .     . 
Washington,  D.C 
Philadelphia  Pa. 
Boston,  Mass. 
Buffalo,  N.Y.   . 
Cleveland,  0.   . 
Chicago,  lU. 
Milwaukee,  Wis. 
St.  Louis,  Mo. . 
Pittsburg,  Pa.  . 
Brooklyn,  N.Y. 
Orange,  N.J.     . 
Trenton,  N.J.   . 
Wilmington,  Del. 
Richmond,  Va. 
Baltimore,  Md. 
Cincinnati,  0.  . 
Louisville,  Ky. 
EvansviUe,  Ind. 
Terre  Haute,  Ind 
Lafayette,  Lid. 
Indianopolis,  Ind 
Dayton,  0.  .     . 


EOUTE. 

3  weeks.  Star  Theatre. 

1  week.  National  Theatre. 

2  weeks,  Broad  Street  Theatre. 

2  weeks,  HoUis  Street  Theatre. 

3  nights,  Academy  of  Music. 

3  nights,  Euclid  Opera  House. 

2  weeks,  Hooley's  Theatre. 
1  week,  Davidson  Theatre. 
1  week,  OljTnpic  Theatre. 

1  week,  Duquesne  Theatre. 

1  week.  Park  Theatre. 

1  night.  Music  Hall. 

1  night,  Taylor  Opera  House. 

1  night  Grand  Opera  House. 

3  nights.  Academy  of  Music. 
1  week,  Lyceum  Theatre. 

1  week.  Grand  Opera  House. 

3  nights,  Macauley's  Theatre. 

1  night.  Opera  House. 

1  night.  Opera  House. 

1  night.  Opera  House. 

3  nights.  Grand  Opera  House. 

1  night,  Grand  Opera  House. 


AMERICA  271 

Feb.  26,  Columbus,  0.  ...  1  night.  Opera  House. 

Feb.  27,  Toledo,  0 1  night,  Wheeler  Opera  House. 

Feb.  29,  Detroit,  Mich.       .     .  3  nights,  Lyceum  Theatre. 

Mar.    3,  Toronto,  Ont.  ...  3  nights,  Grand  Opera  House. 

Mar.    7,  New  York    ....  2  weeks,  Palmer's  Theatre. 

Mar.  21,  Washuigton,  D.C.     .  1  week,  National  Theatre. 

Mar.  28,  Boston,  Mass,      .     .  1  week,  HoUis  Street  Theatre. 

April    4,  Philadelphia,  Pa..     .  1  week,  Broad  Street  Theatre. 

April  11,  Bridgeport,  Conn.    .  1  night,  Bridgeport  Theatre. 

April  12,  Waterbury,  Conn.    .  1  night,  Jacques  Opera  House. 

April  13,  Hartford,  Conn.  .     .  1  night,  Proctor's  Opera  House. 

April  14,  Springfield,  Conn.    .  1  night,  Gilmore's  Opera  House. 

April  15,  Worcester,  Conn.     .  1  night,  Worcester  Theatre. 

April  16,  New  Haven,  Conn.  .  1  night,  Hyperion  Theatre. 

April  18,  Brooklyn,  N.Y.    .     .  1  week. 

April  25,  New  York  ....  1  week. 

May    2,  Williamsburgh,  N.Y.  1  week,  Amphion  Theatre. 

A  glance  at  their  route  will  show  how  far 
their  tours  now  extended,  and  how  much  work, 
both  in  travelling  and  acting,  they  gave  them- 
selves to  do. 

It  was  during  one  of  these  tours  that  poor 
Mrs.  Kendal  underwent  an  awful  experience. 
They  were  playing  in  Philadelphia ;  the  house 
was  crowded ;  she  was  ready  dressed  for  her 
part,  and  the  curtain  was  about  to  go  up,  when 
she  asked  her  maid  to  give  her  a  glass  of  a  tonic 
she  was  taking.  Hastily  she  put  it  to  her  lips, 
and  then,  to  her  horror,  realised  that  the 
wrong  phial  had  been  used,  and  that  she  had 
swallowed  poison !  Quickly,  and  with  charac- 
teristic presence  of  mind,  she  took  the  remedies 
that  occurred  to  her,  sent  for  a  doctor,  and  in 


272  THE  KENDALS 

the  hope  that  she  had  not  taken  enough  to 
prove  fatal,  determined  to  go  on  with  her  part. 
And  so,  in  intense  agony,  and  with  a  mouth  that 
seemed  full  of  flame,  she  went  on  the  stage.  At 
every  available  interval  the  physician  did  his 
best  to  avert  mischief  and  alleviate  her  suffering, 
but  no  one  in  that  cheering  and  dehghted 
audience  knew  what  the  poor,  brave  creature 
who  was  amusing  them  was  undergoing.  For 
three  weeks  Mrs.  Kendal  spent  her  days  in  bed 
and  her  evenings  on  the  stage,  and  her  doctors 
declared  that  if  she  had  swallowed  a  few  more 
drops  of  the  liquid  her  hfe  would  not  have  been 
worth  an  hour's  purchase. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  third  tour  of  1891-92 
was  announced  as  their  "last,"  but  in  1893  an 
irresistible  temptation  came  in  their  way.  Mr. 
Pinero's  brilliant  but  daring  play,  "  The  Second 
Mrs.  Tanqueray,"  had  been  produced  at  the 
St.  James's  ;  it  was  drawing  all  London,  and 
was  the  talk  of  the  day.  Why  should  not  the 
Kendals,  who  were  so  closely  identified  with 
the  Pinero  plays,  be  the  first  to  produce  it  in 
America?  The  author  was  anxious  that  it 
should  be  so ;  Mr.  Daniel  Frohman  was  quite 
willing  to  book  a  tour — it  only  wanted  their 
consent.     No  doubt,  much   as  they  wanted  to 


AMERICA  273 

be  ill  their  own  home  again,  tiie  temptation  was 
a  very  strong,  nay,  an  irresistible  one. 

The  stage  history  of  "  The  Second  Mrs. 
Tanqneray"  is  fairly  well  known.  It  had  been 
intended  for  the  Garrick  Theatre,  but,  while 
admiring  the  intense  cleverness  of  the  work, 
Mr.  Hare  had  declined  the  responsibility  of 
producing  a  play  dealing  with  such  a  formidable 
theme.  It  was  then  passed  on  to  the  St.  James's, 
where  Mr.  Alexander,  after  expressing  his  own 
doubts,  promised  to  "try  it"  at  a  few  special 
matinees.  Chance,  however,  favoured  the  play ; 
it  was  boldly  brought  out  in  the  evening  bill, 
and  created  a  furore  that  was  absolutely  startling. 

Whether  this  phenomenal  success  would  have 
been  made  without  the  peculiarly  fascinating 
performance  of  Mrs.  Patrick  Campbell  is  a  moot 
point.  She  not  only  idealised  the  character  of 
the  depraved  Paula,  she  absolutely  ethereahsed 
it.  Whether  the  impersonation  was  true  to 
nature  or  not  was  hardly  asked.  It  was  a  thing 
by  itself— a  new  sensation — it  had  to  be  seen. 

I  think  that  (as  seen  at  the  St.  James's) 
Mr.  Punch  perfectly  sunmied  her  up  when  he 
doubtfully  though  admiringly  said,  "  What  was 
she  ?  What  was  her  bringing  up  ?  What  ought 
by  right  to  have  been  her  position  in  life  ?  Was 
19 


274  THE  KENDALS 

she  a  waif  and  stray  trom  the  commencement  ? 
One  allusion  to  her  early  youth  gives  her  pause 
— so  natural  a  pause,  too  !  the  perfection  of 
art ! — for  a  moment  and  then,  with  a  shrug  of 
the  shoulders,  she  dismisses  the  recollection. 
She  has  learnt  the  piano,  that  is  evident ;  she 
has  a  refined  taste,  oddly  enough,  in  music; 
she  is  loving,  she  is  vulgar  ;  she  can  purr,  she 
can  spit ;  she  is  gentle,  she  is  violent ;  she  has 
good  impulses,  and  she  is  a  fiend  incarnate  ; 
she  is  affectionate,  she  is  maHcious  ;  generous 
and  trusting,  selfish  and  suspicious;  she  is  all 
heart  and  no  soul ;  she  is  a  Peri  at  the  Gates 
of  Paradise  ;  she  is  a  hete  fauve  that  should  be 
under  lock  and  key." 

Yes,  it  was  that  "What  was  she?"  What  was 
this  complex  Paula  Tanqueray  as  portrayed  by 
Mrs.  Campbell  ?  It  was  the  endeavour  to  solve 
this  problem  that  sent  thousands  to  the  St. 
James's  during  the  first  run  of  "The  Second 
Mrs.  Tanqueray."  In  truth  it  was  a  problem 
play  in  more  senses  than  one. 

The  glamour  that  Mrs.  Campbell  cast  upon 
it  half  blinded  many  to  the  really  grim  story 
that  was  unfolded,  and  subsequently  many 
playwrights  who  tried  to  follow  Mr.  Pinero's 
bold  lead  had  to  acknowledge  the  truth  of  the 


PJioto  bij-\ 


IB'indoyi.^'h'QV^- 


ME.    AND    MES.    KEXDAL   IN    "  DIPLOJIACY." 


AMERICA  276 

assertion  that  he  had  succeeded  "  not  because 
of  his  subject,  but  in  spite  of  it." 

For  a  time,  however,  the  hapless  lady  "  with 
a  past  "  became  the  heroine  of  fiction  both  on 
the  stage  and  in  the  novel.  It  was  not  a  satis- 
factor}^  state  of  things,  for,  poor  thing,  her  story 
must,  under  any  circumstances,  be  a  very  sad 
one.  Her  existence  is  not  to  be  ignored,  but  I 
cannot  think  that  many  people  want  to  see  her 
in  a  play.  Women  always  want  to  avoid  her, 
and  men  regard  her  from  different  points  of 
view.  In  the  eyes  of  those  who,  without  saying 
much  about  it,  have  Christianity  embedded  in 
their  hearts,  she  must  ever  be  an  object  of 
intense  pity ;  to  those  who  shout  their  religion 
from  the  housetops  she  is,  so  they  declare,  an 
offence ;  some  do  not  in  the  least  degree  under- 
stand her;  and  to  many  she  must  convey  a 
sense  of  unspeakable  shame. 

Does  the  reader  remember  those  lines  that, 
as  Stephanie  de  Mohrivart,  in  Messrs.  Herman 
Merivale  and  F.  C.  Grove's  fine  play  "  Forget- 
me-Not,"  Miss  Genevieve  Ward  used  to  hurl  at 
Sir  Horace  Welby — "  Why  may  a  man  live  two 
lives,  while  a  woman  must  stand  or  fall  by  one? 
What  was  the  difference  between  us  two,  Sir 
Horace  Welby,  in  those  bygone  years  that  should 


276  THE  KENDALS 

make  me  now  a  leper  and  you  a  saint  ?  that 
should  give  you  the  right  to  say  to  me,  '  You 
are  Vice  and  I  am  Virtue '  ?  There  would  be 
no  place  in  creation  for  such  women  as  I  if  it 
were  not  for  such  men  as  you  !  "  How  true 
this  is,  and  how  shameful  it  is  ! 

When  Mr.  Pinero  wrote  "  The  Profligate," 
and  in  his  usual  vivid,  yet  deftly-blended  colours, 
showed  the  "man  with  a  past,"  he  gave  his 
play  a  tragic  ending,  and  against  it  his  audiences 
clamoured.  "  No  !  No  !  "  they  said,  "  we  know 
that  Dunstan  Eenshaw  has  been  a  seducer  and 
a  hypocrite,  but  he  must  be  forgiven  and  at 
curtain-fall  live  happy  ever  after  "  ;  and,  bowing 
to  the  popular  opinion,  he  altered  the  finale  of 
his  play.  Did  any  one  ask  that  the  poor  erring, 
and  sometime  cruelly  treated  Paula  Tanqueray 
should  have  a  "happy  ending"?  No!  no! 
The  moral  British  thumb  was  as  inflexibly 
turned  down  as  if  it  had  been  employed  in  a 
Eoman  amphitheatre  when  a  gladiator  was 
butchered  to  make  a  holiday.  According  to 
the  British  judgment  it  was  quite  right  that 
Eenshaw  should  be  taken  back  to  the  heart  of 
the  pure  young  wife  he  had  deceived ;  and  that 
Paula  should  realise  the  advisability  of  putting 
an  end  to  her  existence  with  a  dose  of  poison. 


AMERICA  277 

Doubtless  in  the  days  when  wrong  is  made 
right,  this  hideouslj^  unfair  state  of  things  will 
receive  attention. 

Well,  Mrs.  Kendal  either  made  up  her  mind 
to,  or  was  persuaded  to  play  "Paula  Tanqueray  " 
in  America,  and  it  was  determined  that  the 
piece  should  be  performed  during  the  brief  pro- 
vincial tour  that  was  to  precede  the  embarkation 
of  the  company  at  Liverpool. 

Accordingly,  on  August  31,  1893,  a  few  of 
the  faithful  journeyed  to  Leicester  to  see  the 
new  Mrs.  Tanqueray.  Some  of  the  leading 
critics  were  there — and  Mr.  Pinero  was  there 
watching  the  performance  with  intense  interest, 
from  the  rise  to  the  fall  of  the  curtain.  It  was 
a  difficult  audience  to  play  to,  for  the  good 
people  of  Leicester  had  apparently  heard  little 
of  the  play  that  had  thrilled  London,  and 
evidently  were  in  the  humour  to  enjoy  a  comedy 
of  the  "Scrap  of  Paper"  school.  Accordingly 
they  hailed  Mr.  Pinero's  witty  hues  with  a 
boisterous  mirth  that  must  have  been  most 
disconcerting  to  the  actors,  and  was  not  a  little 
irritating  to  those  who  were  anxious  to  lose  no 
point  of  the  play  in  the  hands  of  its  new 
interpreters.  By  and  by,  however,  the  Kendals, 
backed   by   the   power   of   the   story,   held    the 


278  THE  KENDALS 

house,  and  meaningless  giggles  were  succeeded 
by  that  attentive  silence  that  grand  old  Better- 
ton  used  to  declare  was  the  truest  form  of 
applause. 

From  the  very  first  Mrs.  Kendal  let  us  see 
that  her  interpretation  of  Paula  was  to  be  her 
own.  She  had  no  intention  of  drawing  an 
idyUic  portrait  of  the  woman  who,  for  purely 
selfish  reasons,  wanted  to  marry  the  infatuated 
Aubrey  Tanqueray.  She  could,  and  she  did, 
show  us  the  good  points  in  the  poor  creature's 
character,  but  in  displaying  its  seamy  side  she 
spared  neither  herself  nor  her  audience.  It  was 
an  unswerving  study  from  the  life ;  it  made  the 
boldest  and  the  best  points  in  Mr.  Pinero's  work 
stand  out  in  strong  relief  (as  I  watched  his 
attentive  face  I  fancied  that  he  for  the  first  time 
reaHsed  how  great  a  thing  he  had  written)  ;  to 
the  thoughtful  it  w^as  a  wondrous  piece  of  work ; 
but  it  did  not  round  off  the  corners  of  what  is, 
after  all,  a  tragedy. 

As  the  play  continued  its  course  the  interest 
of  the  portrait  deepened  and  increased,  and  the 
mocking  bravado  of  the  earlier  scenes  gave  way 
to  an  ineffable  tenderness  that  at  last  held  the 
hearts  of  those  who  had  been  forced  by  the 
actress  to  dislike  this  wayward  daughter  of  Eve. 


AMEBIC  A  279 

Mr.  William  Archer,  who  had  travelled  from 
London  to  be  present  on  the  occasion,  said  after- 
wards :  "  What  of  Mrs.  Kendal's  reading  of  the 
part  of  Paula  ?  It  is  the  work  of  an  accomphshed 
comedian,  who  has  at  her  command  all  the 
resources  of  her  art.  Comparisons  are  odious  ; 
and  I  do  not  propose  to  compare  Mrs.  Kendal 
with  Mrs.  Patrick  Campbell  except  on  one  point. 
She  certainly  puts  a  greater  depth  of  feehng  into 
the  later  acts,  and  on  the  whole  (I  should  say) 
she  does  rightly." 

As  Aubrey  Tanqueray,  Mr.  Kendal  was  admir- 
able, and  at  a  happy  Httle  supper  party  at  the 
old  Bell  Hotel  that  succeeded  the  performance 
the  pair  were  cordially  congratulated  on  having 
secured  a  trump  card  for  play  in  America. 

"The  Second  Mrs.  Tanqueray"  did  turn  out 
a  trump  card,  but  not  quite  in  the  way  that  was 
expected,  or  was  perfectly  satisfactory.  The 
play  drew  crowded  houses — the  excellence  of  its 
rendering  was  freely  acknowledged — but,  whereas 
it  had  drawn  all  London,  and  had  hardly  called 
a  blush  to  the  cheek  of  Mr.  Podsnap's  "  young 
person,"  it  scandalised  America,  and  her  critics 
were  not  slow  to  say  so.  It  is  curious  to  note 
that  hve  years  ago  our  go-ahead  cousins  across 
the  xltlantic  were  not  quite  so  "  advanced"  as 


280  THE  KENDALS 

we  "  old  folk  at  home."  Nowadays,  I  fancy,  we 
have  both  "advanced"  a  little  more,  and  our 
susceptibilities  are  more  evenly  balanced. 

In  order  to  describe  what  happened  I  will 
quote  one  of  the  most  temperate  of  their  critics. 

"  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal,"  he  says,  "  were  wel- 
comed back  to  America  by  a  great  audience  at 
the  Star  Theatre.  Leading  professionals  and 
the  best  society  people  packed  the  stalls  and 
adorned  the  boxes  ;  the  dress  circle  was  a  bevy 
of  American  beauties  ;  and  the  upper  part  of  the 
house  was  as  crowded  as  the  orchestra.  Mrs. 
Kendal  was  repeatedly  applauded  and  called 
before  the  curtain  for  her  wonderful  acting, 
which  ranged  from  high  comedy  to  domestic 
tragedy,  and  Mr.  Kendal  for  the  artistic  skill 
with  which  he  managed  to  retain  the  dignity  of 
an  English  gentleman  in  the  most  risky  situa- 
tions. At  the  close  of  the  play,  although  the 
hour  was  near  midnight,  the  whole  audience 
remained  to  give  Mrs.  Kendal  a  special  greeting 
and  to  listen  to  Mr.  Kendal's  graceful  and  grate- 
ful speech,  with  its  pretty  compliment  to  Man- 
ager Frohman.  Everything  that  he  said  found 
a  prompt  and  generous  response  until  he  began 
to  speak  of  '  The  Second  Mrs.  Tanqueray '  as  a 
great  original  drama  which  had  caused  a  sensa- 


AMERICA  281 

tion  in  London  and  which  conveyed  a  moral 
lesson.  Then  the  silence  of  the  audience  was 
ominous.  They  had  applauded  the  acting  ;  but 
they  refused  to  applaud  the  play.  They  were 
delighted  to  see  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal  again; 
but  they  were  surprised  and  shocked  at  being 
presented  to  such  a  person  as  '  The  Second  Mrs. 
Tanqueray.' 

"  If  this  much-advertised  play  were  as  original, 
as  artistic,  as  great  as  the  advance  notices  have 
painted  it,  we  should  still  hold  that  it  is  not  fit 
to  be  represented  in  an  American  theatre.  Art 
is  wide,  but  it  has  its  limitations.  There  are 
marvellous  literary  works  which  have  to  be  kept 
under  lock  and  key.  There  are  pictures  so 
exquisite  that  experts  are  astounded  at  the  skill 
which  created  them,  and  yet  they  are  carefully 
concealed  in  private  cabinets.  There  are  sculp- 
tures so  finely  chiselled  that  no  mortal  hand 
seems  equal  to  the  achievement,  and  yet  they 
are  shown  only  to  a  few  connoisseurs.  The 
subject  of  a  work  of  art  is  even  more  important 
than  the  execution  of  it  when  it  is  intended  for 
public  exhibition,  and  some  subjects  are  not  to  be 
discussed  before  ladies.  How  a  courtesan  would 
look  and  act  if  married  to  a  respectable  gentle- 
man is  not  a  subject  to  be  represented  upon  the 


282  THE  KENDAL S 

stage.  If  any  philosopher  be  really  curious 
about  it,  he  can  find  full  information  in  police 
reports. 

"But  Mr.  Pinero's  work  has  not  even  the 
merit  of  the  books,  the  pictures,  the  sculptures, 
to  which  we  have  referred.  It  is  not  true  that 
'  the  future  is  the  past  over  again,'  as  he  says  in 
one  of  his  imitation  epigrams.  It  is  not  true 
that  a  bad  woman  cannot  be  as  thoroughly 
reformed  as  a  bad  man.  It  is  not  true  that  all 
men  have  '  a  past '  in  the  sense  of  a  criminal 
past.  It  is  not  true  that  when  a  young  girl  falls 
in  love  with  a  young  man  she  is  likely  to  dis- 
cover that  he  has  '  kept  house  '  with  her  mother 
or  her  stepmother.  It  is  not  true  that  Second 
Mr.  Tanquerays  or  Second  Mrs.  Tanquerays  are 
trying  to  force  their  way  into  society.  The 
whole  play  is  stagey  in  material  and  construction 
and  as  artificial  as  the  footlights,  which  it  is 
unworthy  to  face." 

Such  was  America's  opinion  on  London's  new 
sensation,  and  it  will  be  noted  that,  in  his  vehe- 
mence, the  writer  entirely  overlooks  and  incon- 
tinently condemns  the  undeniable  cleverness — 
one  may  say  greatness — of  Mr.  Pinero's  work. 

The  reason  for  his  indignation  is  not  far  to 
seek,     "  Mrs.  Kendal,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  has 


AMERICA  283 

won  and  holds  her  position  as  the  most  popular 
actress  on  the  EngHsh-speaking  stage  because 
she  has  always  been  not  only  a  good  actress,  but 
a  good  woman.  We  remember  her  when  she 
was  Madge  Eobertson — a  girl  like  the  Ellean  of 
this  play.  She  is  loved  and  respected  by  every- 
body, from  the  Queen  to  the  shop-girl,  because 
she  has  been  as  good  off  the  stage  as  on  the 
stage,  an  honour  as  well  as  an  ornament  to  her 
profession.  Why  should  she  pain  her  admirers, 
and  risk  her  popularity,  after  all  these  good 
years,  by  devoting  her  talents  to  the  exemplifica- 
tion of  how  an  abandoned  woman  would  behave 
under  certain  distasteful  circumstances  ?  " 

There  lay  the  trouble  in  a  nutshell.  Mrs. 
Kendal's  faithful  American  adherents  did  not 
like  to  associate  her  with  poor  Paula,  and  no 
doubt  it  was  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  the  actress 
they  had  learned  to  love  that  the  critics  con- 
demned the  play.  They  were  all  very  much  of 
one  mind  concerning  it,  though  some  of  them 
were  more  outspoken  than  others.  One  of  them, 
for  example,  said  :  "  Amid  a  careful  and  detailed 
environment  of  modern  stage  settings,  and  with 
a  perfection  of  modern  stage  art,  the  Kendals 
last  evening  at  the  Star  Theatre,  in  the  presence 
of  a  deeply  interested  audience,  which  filled  the 


284  THE  KENDALS 

house  to  its  capacity,  presented  to  a  New  York 
public  Mr.  A.  W.  Pinero's  '  The  Second  Mrs. 
Tanqueray.'  It  is  a  question  as  to  the  point 
from  which  to  judge  the  play  and  its  presenta- 
tion. From  the  moral  standpoint,  from  the 
views  sacred  to  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  the 
Eepublic,  the  play,  its  motive,  its  movement,  its 
delineation,  and  its  lesson  should  be  irresistibly 
and  irretrievably — to  use  a  stage  expression — 
damned." 

Another  said  :  "  There  is  little  doubt  the  play 
will  be  as  great  a  success  here  as  it  was  in 
London.  But  we  would  prefer  to  see  some  other 
actress  in  it  than  Mrs.  Kendal.  She  cannot 
spoil  her  splendid  reputation  by  playing  the  part 
of  the  shameless  woman ;  she  cannot  even  rub 
off  a  bit  of  the  lustre,  for  all  the  world  agrees  that 
she  is  a  charming  and  talented  actress.  But  we 
prefer  her  in  something  else.  It  is  not  well  to 
harvest  Dead  Sea  fruit." 

Yet,  in  spite  of  all  that  was  said,  the  play, 
artistically  as  well  as  financially,  w^as  a  great 
success,  and  though  there  were  thousands  who 
went  to  see  it  out  of  sheer  curiosity,  there  were 
many  who  realised  how  marvellously  Mrs. 
Kendal  played  the  part  of  Paula,  purposely 
making  her  outre,  but  never  really  vulgar,  in  the 


AMEBIC  A  285 

first  act,  and  then  showing  how,  under  the 
influence  of  her  husband  and  his  daughter,  she 
gradually  refines  until  in  the  last  act  she  actually 
becomes  the  noblest  character  on  the  stage.  To 
those  who  took  the  trouble  to  study  it,  and  who 
were  capable  of  understanding  it,  it  was  a  truly 
great  performance. 

But  the  strictures  on  the  play  were  very 
vexatious.  Like  the  wise  man  that  he  is,  Mr. 
Kendal  takes  all  things  philosophically ;  but 
Mrs.  Kendal  was  very  sore  about  them,  for 
although  she  was  in  no  way  responsible  for  the 
piece  or  its  selection  (the  choosing  of  plays  is  in 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Kendal)  the  criticisms  seemed 
in  a  way  to  reflect  upon  her  own  good  taste. 
Besides,  it  was  so  surprising  that  a  play  which 
(despite  its  theme)  had  excited  the  admiration  of 
England  should  be  thought  inexcusably  offensive 
in  America. 

Not  unnaturally,  Mrs.  Kendal  resented  it,  and 
it  was  while  she  was  in  this  mood  that  she  per- 
mitted herself  to  see  "  an  interviewer."  Now  I 
have  always  maintained  that  Mrs.  Kendal  should 
never  be  "  interviewed."  She  is  a  very  impulsive 
talker.  Her  thoughts  flash  through  her  mind 
like  lightning,  and,  always  bright  and  far-seeing 
though  they  are,  she  often  puts  them  into  words 


286  THE   KENDALS 

without  having  considered  what  their  meaning 
may  convey  to  those  who  are  unaccustomed  to 
her  manner.  Among  her  friends,  who  under- 
stand her,  her  conversation  is  not  only  deUghtful, 
but  fascinating ;  but  to  the  stranger  journalist, 
eager  for  good  "  copy,"  and  setting  down  every 
frankly  spoken  word,  her  style  has  been  far  too 
often  misunderstood.  Among  many  more,  she 
is  taken  advantage  of  by  the  experienced  and 
stony-hearted  interviewer.  No  one  can  blame 
him  for  making  the  most  of  his  material,  but, 
though  I  am  a  journalist  myself  and  know  how 
welcome  good  "  copy  "  is,  I  always  feel  it  rather 
unfair  that  fancies  rather  than  facts  should  be 
thus  gathered — especially  when  the  "subject" 
is  an  outspoken  and  unsuspecting  lady. 

If  on  this  occasion  Mrs.  Kendal  did  not  talk 
too  wisely,  she  certainly  spoke  very  cleverly,  and 
the  interviewer  did  not  resist  his  irresistible 
temptation.  An  article  appeared  which,  though 
good-natured  in  intention,  was  written  in  such 
bantering  style  that  it  attracted  universal  atten- 
tion, and  was  so  recopied  and  remodelled  in  other 
newspapers  that  at  last  its  author  could  hardly 
recognise  it.  Never  did  rolling  snowball  more 
quickly  increase  its  bulk. 

The  great  American  grievance  against  "  The 


AMERICA  287 

Second  Mrs.  Tanqueray "  was  its  alleged  im- 
morality, and  in  this  interview  Mrs.  Kendal 
whimsically,  but  of  course  wilfully,  chose  to 
imagine  that,  as  compared  with  poor  old  blase 
England,  America  was  so  young  and  innocent 
that  it  did  not  know  that  such  women  as  Paula 
had  an  existence.  Taking  this  as  her  stand- 
point, she  went  on  to  defend  the  play,  declaring, 
rightly  enough,  that  to  those  who  were  compelled 
to  admit  that  the  laws  which  human  beings  have 
made  for  themselves,  and  which  govern  society, 
are  occasionally  broken,  Mr.  Pinero's  work  con- 
veyed a  great  moral  lesson,  showing  that 
retributive  justice  at  last  overtakes  and  punishes 
sin,  and  that  repentance,  however  sincere,  will 
not  help  us  to  ward  off  that  punishment.  Again, 
she  maintained  that  a  lesson  was  conveyed  in 
the  example  of  the  woe  and  wretchedness  men 
bring  upon  so  many  innocent  people  when  they 
sin  against  women.  "If,"  she  said,  "  your 
people  cannot  understand  the  moral  lesson  in  all 
this  I  am  afraid  they  cannot  understand  the 
Bible.  I  know  it  is  a  little  book  not  much  read, 
perhaps  out  of  fashion,  but  it  exists,  and  it 
teaches  plain  truths  in  plain  words." 

Those  who  know  and  appreciate  Mrs.  Kendal 
will  easily  imagine  how  (having  conceived  this 


288  THE   KENDAL S 

half- humorous,  half-satirical  line  of  mock 
defence)  admirably  and  vivaciously  she  would 
play  her  part,  but  to  the  interviewer  she  was  a 
stranger — her  words  as  well  as  her  meaning 
were  distorted — and  by  thousands  she  was  once 
more  cruelly  misunderstood. 

The  lesson  of  this  is  that  it  is  a  great  mis- 
take for  those  who  come  before  the  public — 
as  writers,  actors,  or  what  not — to  reply  to 
critics.  If  a  lashing  is  administered  it  is  best 
to  bear  it  patiently  and  silently.  To  call  public 
attention  to  it  is  only  to  advertise  one's  humilia- 
tion. I  have  heard  many  people  declare  that 
the  sting  of  adverse  criticism  does  not  hurt 
them.  I  must  not  say  that  I  do  not  believe 
them,  but  I  am  justified  in  thinking  that  they 
must  be  very  strangely  constituted.  But  if  the 
Kendals'  fourth  American  tour  was  not  without 
its  wholly  unforeseen  annoyances  they  were 
soon  busy  for  a  fifth  with  a  repertory  that 
included  "  The  Second  Mrs.  Tanqueray  "  (still 
wanted  by  the  public  in  spite  of  the  criticisms), 
"Lady  Clancarty,"  "  Still  Waters  Eun  Deep," 
''  A  Scrap  of  Paper,"  "  All  For  Her,"  and  "  The 
Ironmaster." 

Again  let  me  call  attention  to  the  gigantic 
tour  that  was  booked  for  them  : — 


AMEBICA 


289 


ME.   AND   MES.    KENDAL. 

Under  the  Direction  of  Mr.  Daniel  Frohman. 

Fifth  American  Tour, 

1894-95. 


EOUTE. 


Mon.,  Sept.  17, 
Mon.,  Oct.  8, 
Mon.,  Oct.  15, 
Sat.,  Oct.  20, 
Sun.,  Oct.  21, 
Mon.,  Oct.  22, 

Sun.,  Nov.  11, 
Mon.,  Nov.  12, 
Tues.,  Nov.  13, 
Fri.,  Nov.  16, 
Tues.,  Nov.  19, 
Tues.,  Nov.  20, 
Wed.,  Nov.  21, 
Thurs.,Nov.22, 
Mon.,  Nov.  26, 
Wed.,  Nov.  28, 
Thurs.,Nov.29, 
Fri.,  Nov.  30, 
Sat.,  Dec.  1, 
Mon.,  Dec.  3, 
Thurs.  Dec.  6, 

Mon.,  Dec.  10, 
Mon.,  Dec.  17, 
Thurs.,  Dec.  20, 
Fri.,  Dec.  21, 
Sat.,  Dec.  22, 
Mon.,  Dec.  24, 
Mon.,  Jan.  28, 
Mon.,  Feb.  11, 


Chicago,  111.  .     . 

St.  Louis,  Mo.    . 

Denver,  Col. 

Travel. 

Travel. 

San  Francisco, 

Cal 

Travel. 
Travel. 

Portland,  Ore.     . 
Seattle,  Wash.    . 
Tacoma,  Wash.  . 
Travel. 
Travel. 

Salt  Lake,  Utah 
Omaha,  Neb. 
St.  Joseph,  Mo.  . 
,  Des  Moines,  la.  . 
Davenport,  la.  . 
Peoria,  111.  .  . 
Detroit,  Mich.  . 
Cleveland,  O.      . 

Pittsburg,  Pa.  . 
Toronto,  Can.  . 
,  Piochester,  N.Y. 
Syracuse,  N.Y.  . 
Utica,  N.Y. 
New  York,  N.Y. 
Boston,  Mass.  . 
New  Bedford, 
Mass. 

20 


3  weeks,  Hooley's  Theatre. 
1  week,  Olympic  Theatre. 
5  nights.  Tabor  Grand. 


weeks,  Baldwin  Theatre. 


3  nights,  Marquam  Grand. 
2  nights,  Seattle  Theatre. 
1  night,  Tacoma  Theatre. 


nights,  Salt  Lake  Theatre, 
nights,  Boyd's  New  Theatre, 
night,  The  Tootle  Theatre, 
night,  Foster's  Opera  House, 
night,  Biu-tis'  Opera  House, 
night.  Grand  Opera  House, 
nights,  Detroit  Opera  House, 
nights,  Euclid  Avenue  Opera 

House, 
week,  Alvin  Theatre, 
nights.  Grand  Opera  House, 
night,  Lyceum  Theatre, 
night,  Weiting  Opera  House, 
night,  Utica  Opera  House, 
weeks.  Abbey's  Theatre, 
weeks,  Tremont  Theatre. 


1  night,  Grand  0[)cra  House 


290 


THE  KENDALS 


1  night,  Newport  Opera  House. 
1  night,  Academy  of  Music. 
1  night,  Worcester  Theatre. 
1  night,  Proctor's  Opera  House. 
1  night,  Hyperion  Theatre. 
1  week.  Chestnut  Street  Opera 

House. 
1  week,  Lyceum  Theatre. 
1  week,  New  National  Theatre. 
1  week,  Cohimbia  Theatre. 
1  week,  Harlem  Opera  House. 
3     nights,     Providence     Opera 

House. 
1  night,  Lawrence  Opera  House. 
1  night,  Opera  House. 
1  night,  City  Hall. 
1  week,  HoUis  Street  Theatre. 


Tues.,  Feb.  12,  Newport,  R.  I.  . 
Wed.,  Feb.  13,  FaU  River,  Mass. 
Thurs.,  Feb.  14,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Fri.,  Feb.  15,  Hartford,  Con.  . 
Sat.,  Feb.  16,  New  Haven,  Con. 
Hon.,  Feb.  18,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mon.,  Feb.  25,  Baltimore,  Md.  . 
Mon.,  Mar.  4,  Washington,D.C. 
Mon.,  Mar.  11,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Mon.,  Mar.  18,  Harlem,  N.  Y.  . 
Mon.,  Mar.  25,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Thurs., Mar. 28, Lawrence,  Mass. 

Fri.,  Mar.  29,     Lowell,  Mass.     . 

Sat.,  Mar.  30,    Portland,  Me.     . 

Mon.,  April  1,    Boston,  Mass.     . 

Mon.,  April  8, 

Tues.,  April  9, 

Wed.,  April  10, 

Thurs.,  April  11, 

Fri.,  April  12, 

Sat.,  April  13, 

Mon.,  April  15,  New  York,  N.Y. 

Mon.,  April  29,  Washington,D.C. 

Mon.,  May  6,     Chicago,  111. 

Mon.,  May  20, 

Tues.,  May  21, 

Wed.,  May  22, 

Thurs.,  May  23, 

Fri.,  May  24, 

Sat.,  May  25, 


"  Yes,"  many  people  will  say,  "  it  looks  a 
great  undertaking  on  paper,  but  no  doubt  they 
travelled  in  such  luxury  that  they  suffered  as 
little  from  exertion  as  they  would  from  incon- 
venience." 

But  they  had  their  discomforts.     For  example, 


2  weeks.  Abbey's  Theatre. 

1  week,  National  Theatre. 

2  weeks,  Hooley's  Theatre, 


AMEBICA  291 

in  some  remote  town,  though  the  theatre  they 
were  to  play  in  was  a  fine  one,  the  accommodation 
in  the  dressing-rooms  was  appalling.  There  was 
an  utter  absence  of  ventilation,  and  the  furniture 
and  lighting  were  disgraceful  to  the  last  degree. 
Mrs.  Kendal's  wash-hand  stand  was  a  tin  bowl 
placed  upon  a  shabby  chair  !  On  objecting  to 
this,  and  failing  to  obtain  any  improvement,  she 
rose  to  the  occasion  and  sent  for  the  manager. 
Wearing  his  hat,  and  redolent  of  tobacco,  that 
gentleman  lounged  into  the  room,  and  asked 
"What's  the  trouble?"  Mrs.  Kendal  pointed 
to  the  tin  bowl  and  spoke  some  plain  truths  as  to 
the  abominably  dirty  state  of  the  room,  winding 
up  by  declaring  that  she  must  at  least  have  an 
earthenware  basin,  for  she  never  had  washed  in  a 
tin  bowl  and  she  never  would.  The  placid  pro- 
prietor of  the  theatre  turned  the  quid  of  tobacco 
he  was  chewing,  and  remarked,  "  Waal,  I  guess 
your  betters  he  v."  Mrs.  Kendal  promptly  sent 
for  their  own  manager,  and  asked  him  what  was 
the  penalty  for  breaking  the  contract  by  not 
appearing.  She  was  told  it  would  mean  so 
many  hundred  dollars.  "  Draw  a  cheque  for  it 
at  once,"  she  said,  "  and  either  get  that  man  to 
take  his  hat  off,  or  have  it  knocked  off ;  we  shall 
not  play  here  !  "     Then,  turning  to   her   maid, 


292  THE   KENDALS 

"  Pack  everything  up  and  tell  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  there  will  be  no  performance."  Now 
as  every  seat  in  the  house  was  booked  the  pro- 
prietor at  once  "  climbed  down,"  and  so  did  his 
best  to  improve  matters  that  the  storm  passed 
over.  The  ultimate  result  of  Mrs.  Kendal's 
spirited  behaviour  was  that  the  dressing  accom- 
modation of  the  house  was  completely  renovated, 
and  on  the  next  visit  of  the  company  they  were 
made  as  comfortable  as  they  could  desire.  It 
was  an  alteration  for  which  all  actors  in  the 
habit  of  fulfilhng  engagements  at  the  theatre 
in  question  were  deeply  thankful. 

The  great  feature  of  this  tour  was  to  be  "Lady 
Clancarty,"  and,  in  order  to  give  Americans  a 
faithful  picture  of  England  in  the  days  of 
Wilham  III.,  it  was  dressed  and  mounted 
without  any  regard  to  expense,  and  with  the 
most  elaborate  attention  to  detail.  All  the 
costumes  were  new  and  of  the  most  costly 
materials,  and  their  correctness  was  carried 
down  to  the  embroidery  (an  item  of  accuracy 
not  to  be  discerned  by  the  audience)  of  "  Honi 
soit  qui  mal  y  pense,"  on  the  King's  garter. 
The  furniture,  too,  was  as  soHd  as  if  it  had  been 
made  for  Eoyal  Palaces  instead  of  for  the  three 
hours'  traffic  of  the  stage.     The  great  screen  in 


AMEEICA  293 

the  King's  private  apartment  was  as  massive  as 
its  original,  and  the  brocade  covering  it  was  as 
handsome  as  it  was  in  reality.  The  cornices 
and  chimneypieces  had  been  modelled  from 
original  work,  and  the  great  carved  bedstead 
was  a  copy  of  one  at  Hampton  Court. 

As  for  Mrs.  Kendal's  costumes  I  must  quote  a 
lady  who  inspected  them.  "  The  cloak  which 
she  wears  in  the  first  act  of  '  Lady  Clancarty,'  " 
she  says,  "is  of  the  most  exquisite  hand- 
embroidered  silk  in  delicate  shades ;  the  laces 
are  all  of  the  utmost  elegance  ;  the  brocades 
would  stand  alone.  As  for  the  filmy  caps  which 
Mrs.  Kendal  wears,  they  are  sewn  on  her  head 
every  night  for  fear  of  wrinkles  in  the  fit.  No 
one  has  ever  seen  Mrs.  Kendal  '  come  apart ' 
on  the  stage.  You  never  find  her  clutching  at  a 
gaping  placquet,  or  fumbling  at  a  loosened  collar ; 
her  hats  never  slide  or  tilt  or  wobble.  Every- 
thing is  put  on  to  stay  firmly,  until  its  turn 
comes  to  be  taken  off.  She  has  a  serene 
consciousness  always  in  the  reliability  of  her 
back  breadths,  and  the  infalhbility  of  her  buttons 
and  strings.  She  has  cushions  and  cushions 
full  of  coloured  pins.  Green  velvet  bows  are 
fastened  with — I  was  going  to  say  green  velvet 
pins — but  pins  of  the  exact  shade  of  the  bows. 


294  THE  KENDALS 

And  everything  appears  to  have  been  made  for 
its  purpose.  That  exquisite  resplendent  brocade 
in  the  last  act  was  made  for  that  train,  and 
anything  more  beautiful  to  examine  you  have 
never  seen.  The  roses  look  as  if  they  grew  on 
the  silk  ;  the  leaves  belong  to  the  roses." 

Certainly  America  never  saw  a  more  perfectly 
staged  historical  play  than  the  Kendals'  impor- 
tation of  "Lady  Clancarty." 

Talking  to  me  the  other  day  a  member  of  their 
company  told  me  of  a  pretty  and  considerate 
custom  of  which  I  never  heard  my  friends  make 
mention.  On  the  American  Christmas  Day  the 
theatres  are  opened  in  the  usual  way,  but,  know- 
ing how  dear  that  anniversary  is  to  the  English 
heart,  the  Kendals  always  invited  the  whole  of 
their  company  to  "  after-curtain"  supper  at  their 
hotel.  Then  it  was  that  their  fellow-actors 
found  out  why  Mrs.  Kendal  had  been  so  anxious 
to  discover  their  favourite  dishes.  There  all 
these  dainties  were,  flanked  by  a  noble  spread, 
and,  with  the  most  genial  host,  and  the  most 
charming  of  hostesses,  the  old-world,  time- 
honoured  Christmas  festivities  were  kept  up 
until  American  clocks  were  chiming  the  fours 
and  the  fives  of  the  morning. 

I   must   not   forget    that    in    America    Mrs. 


AMEBICA  295 

Kendal,  with  consummate  success,  re-read  that 
much  discussed  Social  Science  paper  on  "The 
Drama,"  and  this  time  without  causing  any 
disturbance  in  theatrical  dovecots. 

In  dealing  with  these  tours  I  have  inten- 
tionally said  nothing  concerning  the  intimate 
friends  made  by  the  Kendals,  or  the  social 
functions  that  were  held  in  their  honour. 
Very  rightly  they  do  not  make  a  parade  of 
personal  matters,  and  the  numerous  letters 
from  celebrities  expressing  congratulation, 
admiration,  and  esteem  which  they  received 
and  cherish  they  hold  sacred. 


CHAPTEE  X 

^^THE   KENDAL S  AT  HOME" 

rpO  all  who  know  them  intimately  it  must  be 
-■-  a  pleasure  to  think  of  the  Kendals  in  their 
own  household.  To  me  it  is  delightful  to 
conjure  up  happy  memories  of  9,  Taviton  Street, 
Gordon  Square,  where  they  lived  soon  after  they 
were  married ;  of  145,  Harley  Street ;  and  of 
their  present  handsome  house,  12,  Portland 
Place.  As  suited  to  their  ever-increasing  and 
well-won  prosperity  and  their  growing  family, 
the  houses  have  become  larger,  their  surround- 
ings more  valuable  and  complete,  but  in  all  their 
homes  the  same  perfect  taste,  the  same  honest 
English  comfort,  and  the  same  true  hospitality 
has  existed. 

What  is  true  hospitality  ?  Well,  I  often 
think  that  the  Kendals  have  given  me  the 
keynote  to  it.  I  know  that  when  I  stay  with 
them  I  am  made  perfectly  at  home.     If  I  have 


298  THE   KENDALS 

work  to  do,  and  am  delayed  by  it,  I  never  feel 
that  I  need  worry  about  their  carefully  kept 
hours  and  regulations.  They  will  go  on  as 
usual,  and  when  I  come  in,  whatever  the  hour 
may  be,  I  am  greeted  with  the  same  cheery 
smiles,  the  same  bright  welcome,  the  same 
assurance  that  I  am  to  consider  the  house  as 
my  own,  and  to  do  and  ask  for  what  I  like. 
Surely  that  is  true  hospitality  ?  They  have  all 
been  beautiful  as  well  as  very  interesting  homes 
— beautiful  because  of  the  nice  discernment  with 
which  everything  from  basement  floor  to  top- 
most ceiling  has  been  chosen ;  and  interesting, 
inasmuch  as  the  Kendals  have  always  carried 
their  "household  gods"  with  them,  and  have 
thus  stamped  them  with  the  invaluable  hall- 
mark of  "association."  Nothing  to  the  warm- 
hearted can  be  more  valuable  than  belongings 
that,  beautiful  themselves,  bear  with  them 
"  associations." 

The  first  thing  that  would  strike  a  stranger 
is  Mr.  Kendal's  valuable  collection  of  pictures. 
Himself  an  admirable  draughtsman  and  artist 
(in  his  rare  leisure  moments  he  loves  nothing 
better  than  to  have  the  pencil  or  the  paint 
brush  in  his  hand),  he  is  a  remarkable  judge  of 
the  work  of  others,  and  many  of  the  paintings 


"THE   EENDALS  AT  HOME"  299 

that  he  cherishes  bear  testimony  to  his  keen 
discrimination.  TraveUing  from  provincial  town 
to  provincial  town,  as  he  has  done  for  many 
years,  Mr.  Kendal,  by  invariably  visiting  and 
closely  inspecting  the  local  art  exhibitions,  has 
been  able,  by  his  appreciation  and  knowledge  of 
technique,  to  single  out  the  early  work  of  many 
budding  geniuses,  and  it  is  most  interesting 
to  walk  round  his  rooms  and  to  note  how,  in 
his  own  quiet  and  practical  way  (for,  to  the 
young  artists'  dehght,  he  bought  their  pictures), 
he  foretold  the  success  of  many  of  the  most 
popular  painters  of  to-day. 

An  instance  of  his  almost  unerring  judgment 
in  this  direction  is  before  me  as  I  write  these 
lines.  A  good  many  years  ago  I  was  with  him 
in  a  provincial  art  gallery  that  promised  no  ripe 
harvest,  when  he  was  suddenly  arrested  by  a 
work  "skied"  in  an  obscure  corner.  It  was  a 
mere  study  of  still  life,  and  manifestly  the 
handicraft  of  a  beginner.  I  should  have  passed 
it  by,  but  he,  pointing  to  it,  said,  "There! — 
that's  crude,  but  it's  painted  by  some  one  who 
has  the  right  stuff  in  him."  He  did  not  buy  it, 
and  a  little  later  I,  chiefly  in  remembrance  of  a 
pleasant  day  spent  with  a  good  friend  and 
comrade,  purchased  it.     I  had  almost  forgotten 


300  THE   KENDAL S 

its  existence,  when  only  the  other  day  an  artist, 
seeing  it  in  my  house,  said,  "  Do  you  know 
you've  got  a  treasure  there  ?  Why,  it's  a  noble 
specimen  of  the  early  work  (the  picture  is 
signed,  but  I  had  never  observed  it)  of  one  of 
the  most  noted  iVcademicians  of  to-day." 

But,  although  his  walls  bear  many  evidences 
of  this  cultured  instinct,  Mr.  Kendal  of  course 
is  not  satisfied  to  own  only  the  clever  experi- 
ments of  novices,  and  he  is  the  appreciative 
possessor  of  many  noble  examples  of  the  mature 
work  of  the  most  notable  English  and  foreign 
artists.  A  thing  that  greatly  strikes  one  in  his 
unique  collection  is  the  deft  manner  in  which 
they  have  been  "  hung,"  with  a  master-eye  to 
colour  and  effect.  No  picture  (as  we  so  often 
see  in  less  carefully  arranged  collections)  is 
allowed  to  "clash"  with  another,  and  the  wall- 
papers and  decorations  of  his  rooms  are  so  well 
chosen  as  to  bring  everything  into  harmony. 
On  interior  decoration  Mr.  Kendal  is  indeed  a 
recognised  authority,  and  evidence  of  it  has 
been  seen  in  every  play  that  he  has  staged. 
His  bookcases,  too,  evince  the  same  care,  taste, 
and  apt  eye  for  colour ;  and,  when  well  carried 
out,  there  can  be  nothing  more  decorative  or 
attractive  than  rows  of  handsomely  bound  books. 


^^THE   KENDALS   AT  HOME''  301 

Carefully  preserved  in  choice  morocco  are 
original  copies  of  all  the  plays— published  and 
unpublished — in  which  he  and  his  wife  have 
appeared,  and  in  company  with  these  may  be 
seen  a  remarkable  collection  of  the  first  editions 
of  Dickens  and  other  great  authors,  as  well  as 
many  invaluable  works  on  theatrical  lore.  His 
librar}^  is  a  marvel  of  comfort  and  completeness, 
and  it  is  none  the  less  serviceable  because  it  is 
luxurious.  His  letters  and  papers  are  always  in 
order,  and,  ever  facing  him,  is  a  formidable  pile 
of  the  manuscript  plays  that  are  always  being 
submitted  to  him,  and  which,  to  his  infinite 
credit,  he  conscientiously  reads.  I  may  as  w^ell 
say  here  that  I  know  no  better  judge  of  an 
unacted  play  than  Mr.  Kendal.  Nothing  is 
more  difficult  to  decide  than  whether  a  tragedy, 
comedy,  or  farce  that  appeals  to  and  even  fasci- 
nates the  reader  will  be  successful  on  the  stage. 
In  this  connection  even  those  one  would  imagine 
from  their  great  experience  to  be  the  best  of 
judges  are  often,  and  to  their  heavy  cost, 
painfully  deceived,  and  have  to  acknowledge 
the  truism  that  the  play  that  reads  well  often 
acts  badly.  But,  like  a  clever  physician  ex- 
amining a  patient,  Mr.  Kendal  can  quickly  put 
his  finger  on  a  weak  spot,  and  say,  "  Here  lies 


302  THE   KENDALS 

the  mischief  which,  if  it  cannot  be  cured,  will 
prove  fatal."  Then  he  has  the  physician's 
painful  duty  (though,  by  the  way,  the  man  of 
medicine  does  pocket  his  fee  !)  of  breaking  the 
news  to  his  generally  resentful  patient. 

I  fancy  few  people  know  what  that  play- 
reading  ordeal  means.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
although  it  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  crafts, 
all  people  think  they  can  write  for  the  stage. 
As  a  matter  of  consequence  actors  and  actresses 
(especially  those  of  note),  and  every  one  con- 
nected with  the  theatres,  whether  it  be  as 
lessees,  managers,  or  even  dramatic  critics,  are 
pestered  with  bales  of  manuscript,  accompanied 
by  urgent  requests  for  immediate  opinions.  The 
late  E.  A.  Sothern  once  said  to  me,  "  Everyman 
I  meet  has  either  written  a  play  or  wants  to  sell 
wine";  and  my  old  friend  J.  L.  Toole  has 
shown  me  a  remarkable  letter  from  an  utter 
stranger  to  him  which  ran  as  follows : — 

"  Sib, — I  am  in  pecuniary  difficulties,  and 
therefore  I  have  written  a  play  which  I  send  by 
this  post.  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  produce 
it  at  once,  remitting  me  promptly  the  usual 
percentages." 

Of  course  the  play  was  an  absolutely  hopeless 
one,  but  in  this  sort  of  way  those  who  are  pro- 


"THE   KENDALS   AT  HOME"  303 

minent  in  stage-laud  are  pestered  every  hour  of 
the  da}^  It  is  bad  euough  wheu  they  come  from 
strangers,  who,  like  intrusive  and  importunate 
wine  merchants,  are  hard  to  shake  off ;  but  far  too 
often  they  are  artfully  sent  through  "  friends," 
who,  to  their  everlasting  disgrace,  give  cruel 
"introductions"  for  this  fell  purpose.  Then 
the  difficulties  are  quadrupled.  Besides,  there  is 
always  this  terror  to  be  held  in  view.  A  would- 
be  dramatist  conceives  the  brilliantly  original 
idea  of  a  three-act  comedy  in  which  a  young 
couple  are  "  engaged  "  in  the  first  act,  quarrel 
in  the  second,  and  are  re-united  in  the  third. 
Crudely  treated  by  a  palpable  tyro,  the  piece  is 
impossible  and  is  politely  returned.  A  little 
later  the  well-worn  theme  is  so  well  treated  (or 
rather  re-treated)  by  a  skilled  playwright  that, 
with  successful  results,  the  piece  is  produced. 
Then  Mr.  Tyro  foams  with  rage,  and  writes  to 
every  newspaper  likely  to  publish  his  diatribes. 
He  declares  that  his  plot  has  been  purloined, 
his  characters  appropriated,  and  his  brains 
picked  ;  and  he  gets  a  fair  number  of  people  to 
believe  in  his  alleged  grievances. 

I  sometimes  wonder  that  with  such  things 
staring  them  in  the  face,  actors  have  the  ^ourage 
— to  say  nothing  of  the  patience — to  read  the 


304  THE   KENDALS 

work  of  the  supersensitive  and  suspicious  un- 
acted author.  Many,  I  think,  give  it  up  in 
despair ;  some  try  to  get  over  the  difficulty  by 
employing  a  reader ;  but  when  once  an  unasked 
for  manuscript  has  been  delivered  at  the  door, 
the  actor  or  manager  is  open  to  the  futile  but 
irritating  charge  of  plagiarism.  Mr.  Kendal, 
however,  makes  it  his  business  to  read  every- 
thing that  is  sent  to  him,  and,  as  I  have  said, 
his  judgment  is  rarely  at  fault.  It  must  be 
weary  work  this  wading  through  the  reams  of 
writing  that  pile  his  library  table ;  but  he  has 
had  his  reward.  He  has  unearthed  many  gems. 
The  stepping-stones  laid  down  by  him  have 
helped  many  anxious  authors  across  the  difficult 
and  constantly  brawling  stream  that  separates 
the  unacted  from  the  acted.  His  painstaking 
discrimination  is  no  doubt  gratefully  remembered 
by  many  of  the  leading  dramatists  of  to-day. 

In  its  quiet  and  unostentatious  way  this  taste- 
ful library  of  his  has  done  invaluable  work.  His 
courtesy  to  his  unknown,  play-writing,  corre- 
spondents, too,  is  beyond  praise.  If,  as  of  course 
he  generally  has,  to  say  "  No,"  it  is  done  in  the 
kindliest  way ;  if  he  can  give  a  little  encourage- 
ment, it  is  hke  the  "  cup  that  cheers  but  not 
inebriates."     If  he  can  distinguish  real  merit  in 


'^THE  KENDALS   AT  HOME"  305 

a  new  writer,  his  right  hand  is  extended  to 
him,  and  his  invakiable  advice  is  at  his  disposal. 
In  this  way — in  intervals  of  sketching  and  read- 
ing for  his  own  amusement — in  fulfilling  the 
numerous  social  engagements  that  he  shares 
with  his  wife  (the  popularity  of  the  Kendals  in 
the  best  society  of  London  is  unbounded),  and 
in  attending  to  the  manifold  duties  connected 
with  his  profession,  his  time  should  be  fully 
occupied ;  but  he  finds  his  leisure  for  horse 
exercise,  and  (latterly)  the  irresistible  cycle.  In 
his  holidays  he  proves  himself  a  good  sportsman, 
and  is  one  of  the  truest  of  shots.  For  example, 
while  shooting  on  the  Scotch  coast  he  once  saw 
lying  on  a  distant  rock  a  line  seal.  It  was  a 
long  shot,  but  the  creature  was  just  within 
range.  Mr.  Kendal  has  no  idea  of  killing  for 
the  sake  of  killing,  but  he  thought  he  would  like 
to  have  that  seal's  skin.  Aiming  at  its  eye  he 
hit  it  and  killed  the  animal  instantaneously,  and 
to-day  he  can  proudly  show  the  skin  unmarked 
by  bullet. 

But,  fully  occupied  as  he  is,  Mrs.  Kendal  is 
even  busier,  for,  in  spite  of  all  her  arduous  pro- 
fessional work,  and  multitudinous  outside  en- 
gagements, she  insists  on  "housekeeping  "  as  if 

she  had  nothing  else  to  do.     And  right  well  she 
21 


306  THE  KENDALS 

does  it  !  Although  hers  is  the  least  formal 
household  in  the  world,  its  method  is  admirable. 
Punctuality  is  its  watchword  —unostentatious 
comfort  its  precept.  Then  comes  the  evening 
engagement  at  the  theatre,  followed  by  the  quiet 
supper,  at  which  all  things  are  talked  over.  Of 
course  it  is  a  most  happy  union.  Art,  as  Mrs. 
Kendal  points  out,  is  intensely  absorbing,  and  if 
only  one  of  a  married  pair  be  its  devotee,  then 
his  or  her  preoccupation  will  sorely  try  the 
other's  patience.  But  coming  home  after  the 
performance  as  the  Kendals  do,  they  compare 
notes,  and  tell  each  other  where  they  think  their 
impersonations  might  be  altered  or  improved, 
and  each  is  so  anxious  for  the  other's  success 
that  immense  good  comes  of  these  conferences. 

This,  of  course,  is  the  ideal  stage  life  ;  but 
though  such  an  excellent  state  of  things  cannot 
fall  to  the  lot  of  all  actors,  Mrs.  Kendal  stoutly 
denies  that  her  profession  has  any  special  dangers 
for  a  woman.  They  must  be  of  her  own  seeking 
and  making,  she  says,  for  there  are  no  dangers 
for  a  woman  in  the  theatre  unless  she  courts 
them,  and  if  she  does  that  she  will  find  them 
in  a  drawing-room  and  a  ball-room,  with  the 
same  ease  as  in  a  theatre. 

Mrs.  Kendal  is  always  being  asked  what  she 


'^  THE   KENDAL S  AT  HOME"  307 

thinks  of  the  stage  as  a  profession  for  young 
girls,  and  not  very  long  ago  she  summed  it  up  as 
follows  : — 

"I  think  acting  is  a  most  excellent  field  for 
young  women,"  she  said,  "but  it  must  be  a  field, 
not  a  pasture.  It  is  not  a  pasture  on  which 
thousands  can  graze.  Instead  of  having  a 
hundred  in  the  field  we  have  ten  thousand, 
and  there  isn't  room  for  them  all.  Everybody 
nowadays  wants  to  go  upon  the  stage,  and  some 
may  have  advantages  in  the  way  of  appearance 
and  youth  and  education,  but  this  particular  art 
that  I  follow  is  not  to  be  taught.  Therefore,  they 
may  have  good  looks,  they  may  have  youth, 
they  may  have  education,  and  yet  have  not 
acting.  Acting  is  a  thing  that's  inside,  not  out- 
side at  all.  The  modern  audience  is  apt  to  think 
acting  consists  of  outside  attributes,  but  it  is  not 
so.  Then,  again,  when  you  can  act  well  and 
have  made  money,  people  are  apt  to  call  it  luck. 
I  am  always  called  a  lucky  woman,  but  I  don't 
think  it's  all  luck.  I  am  vain  enough  to  think 
that  some  of  it  is  hard  work — very  hard  work — 
constant  and  everlasting  work.  You  must  never 
cease  to  study.  As  you  get  older,  you  must  fill 
up  the  wrinkles  with  intelhgence." 

Mrs.  Kendal  is  of  course  right,  but  the  curious 


308  THE   KENDALS 

fact  exists  that,  whereas  no  man  or  woman  with- 
out a  voice  would  dream  of  saying  they  could 
sing  like  a  Santley  or  an  Albani ;  no  man  or 
woman  incapable  of  drawing  would  assert  they 
could  produce  pictures  like  a  Millais  or  a  Kosa 
Bonheur;  no  man  or  woman  without  poetry  in 
their  veins  would  try  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
a  Tennyson  or  an  Adelaide  Procter,  each  and  all 
of  these,  if  inoculated  with  the  modern  craze  for 
amateur  acting,  would  be  intrepidly  willing,  at 
very  short  notice,  to  appear  before  the  public  in 
characters  on  which  such  actors  as  the  Kendals 
and  their  famous  stage  comrades  have  spent 
months  and  months  of  study — weeks  and  weeks 
of  stippling  to  perfection's  point. 

Mrs.  Kendal  loves  her  home,  and  she  loves  it 
to  be  homely.  This  fact  is  prettily  exemplified 
in  a  little  article,  fancifully  called  "Nuts," 
which  some  years  ago  she  contributed  to  the 
Christmas  number  of  the  New  York  Dramatic 
Mirror. 

"Now  I  especially  love  nuts,"  she  wrote, 
"  because  Sunday — that  blessed  day  of  rest — is 
the  only  time  when  I  can  eat  them.  I  simply 
dare  not  on  other  days  for  fear  of  my  voice 
becoming  affected.  So  Sunday  with  me  means 
rest,  peace — and  nuts  !    What  can  be  pleasanter, 


"THE  KENDALS   AT  HOME"  309 

too,  than  sitting  round  a  huge  fire,  cooking 
chestnuts,  with  all  the  children,  and  if  a  friend 
calls,  however  grand  his  or  her  status  may  be, 
no  one  is  too  proud  to  partake  of  chestnuts, 
cooked  on  a  bright,  clear  fire,  glowing  and 
sending  up  blue  sparks  from  the  salt  used, 
amid  the  laughter  of  young  people  and  children, 
who,  fresh  from  school,  love  spending  a  cold 
frosty  afternoon  playing  at  cooking  nuts — oh, 
those  nuts  !  " 

"  But,"  she  adds,  "  there  is  one  place  where  I 
do  not  like  nuts,  one  place  where  nuts  should 
never  be :  where  all  my  pleasure  is  destroyed  in 
them,  and  where  I  wish  nuts  had  never  been 
born— at  the  theatre  !  That's  the  place  where  I 
hate  them  !  I  simply  hate  them  in  the  gallery 
of  a  theatre.  Oh  !  dear  friends  of  the  gallery — 
for  you  are  friends — as  no  entertainment  can  be 
complete  without  your  co-operation  and  enthu- 
siasm— don't  eat  nuts  in  the  theatre: — that  is, 
during  the  play.  If  you  only  knew  what  agony 
you  inflict,  I'm  sure  you  wouldn't  continue  to  do 
so.  At  all  West-End  houses  these  things  never 
occur  ;  but  when  the  actors  go  into  the  provincial 
cities,  beheve  me,  the  one  thing  they  dread,  the 
first  question  they  ask,  is — ^  Do  they  cracJc 
nuts?     If    the  answer  is  'Yes' — then  farewell 


310  THE   KENDALS 

the  tranquil  mind!— Othello's  occupation's  gone! 
The  actor  trembles  for  when  he  comes  to  some 
delicate,  tender  speech — you  may  be  sure  that  is 
the  moment  when — crack  !  goes  a  nut !  " 

It  is  at  the  happy  supper  time  and  in  the 
hour's  chat  that  succeeds  it,  that,  the  day's 
work  being  done,  the  Kendals  are  at  their 
brightest  and  their  best.  Then  they  will  give 
you  their  frank  opinions  on  the  art  of  acting, 
and  tell  you  anecdotes.  Their  ideal  is,  of 
course,  the  natural  school.  Carefully  as  they 
attend  to  the  staging  of  their  plays,  they  do  not 
want  anything  in  the  way  of  furniture,  dresses, 
or  upholstery  to  be  obtrusive.  They  maintain 
that  there  is  no  need  for  a  hero  to  clutch  at  a 
curtain,  as  if  he  were  a  drowning  man — nor  for 
a  heroine  to  continually  pound  sofa  cushions 
with  her  elbows.  People  do  not  do  it  in  real 
life.  Why  then  should  it  be  tolerated  on  the 
stage?  At  such  moments  Mrs.  Kendal  can 
become  very  enthusiastic  about  the  good  work 
of  her  brother  and  sister  artists.  I  remember 
her  telling  me  how  she  went  to  see  Madame 
Modjeska  play  in  "Heartsease"  at  the  Court 
Theatre,  and  was  so  touched  by  a  brilhant  piece 
of  acting  that  she  forgot  she  was  in  a  theatre 
and   loudly  cried  out:  "How  magnificent  this 


''THE  KENDALS  AT  HOME"  311 

woman  is  !  "  Modjeska,  she  declared,  could  see 
her  emotion,  and  played  to  her  for  the  remainder 
of  the  evening. 

Mrs.  Kendal  is  fond  of  saying  that  she  often 
plays  to  one  person.  "I  remember,"  she  has 
told  me,  "  seeing  a  man  yawn  in  the  stalls.  I 
put  all  my  magnetism,  or  whatever  it  may  be 
called,  into  that  person,"  she  said,  "  and  prayed 
that  I  might  get  him  to  look  at  me.  At  last  I 
caught  his  eye  and  kept  him  awake,  and  I  played 
to  him  for  the  remainder  of  the  evening." 

She  is  always  very  warm  in  the  defence  of  her 
own  profession,  and  strongly  resents  the  few 
lingering  aspersions  that  are  made  upon  it. 
Once,  when  returning  the  call  of  a  titled  lady, 
her  hostess  remarked  that  she  had  never  met  an 
actress  before,  but  that  her  mother,  in  her 
capacity  of  the  representative  of  a  foreign  court, 
had,  during  a  sojourn  in  Paris,  entertained  the 
famous  Kachel.  "Yes,"  said  the  daughter  of 
the  house,  continuing  the  story,  "  and  they  say 
that  good  as  was  her  acting  in  the  theatre,  it 
was  nothing  compared  to  what  she  did  in  the 
house.  She  acted  so  well,  mother  says,  that  she 
might  have  been  taken  for  a  lady."  "  Do  you 
know  what  Rachel  would  do  w4ien  she  returned 
to  her  comrades?"   said   Mrs.   Kendal.     "She 


312  THE   KENDALS 

would  give  an  imitation  of  every  one  she  met — 
beginning  with  your  mother." 

When  supper  and  its  pleasant  after-chat  are 
over,  Mrs.  Kendal,  if  she  has  a  new  part  to  study, 
will,  when  all  the  house  is  quiet,  set  herself  to 
new  work.  There  is  a  stillness  at  that  time 
which  she  cannot  get  at  any  hour  of  the 
day.  In  the  silence  she  reads  her  part,  and,  as 
its  author  knows,  grasps  its  inmost  meaning. 
There  is  a  certain  excitement,  she  thinks,  in 
thus  working  in  the  silent  watches  of  the  night, 
and  certainly  her  results  justify  her  methods. 

Among  other  things  that  occupy  her  more 
than  busy  life  is  the  important  question  of  the 
stage  dressing  of  the  ladies  of  their  company. 
She  knows  very  well  that  pretty  dress  is  now- 
adays one  of  the  attractions  of  the  theatre,  and 
that  to  be  really  attractive  it  must  be  super- 
intended with  perfect  taste.  Before  a  prolonged 
tour  she  often  has  as  many  as  two  hundred 
feminine  costumes,  and  their  colour  contrasts, 
to  consider.  The  task  must  be  an  enormous 
one. 

Her  own  dress  is  always  perfect  and  appro- 
priate. Does  any  one  remember  in  what  sweet 
and  ladylike  simplicity  she  clothed  Kate  Verity 
in  "The  Squire"?     Mr.  Pinero  had  every  reason 


"THE  KENDALS   AT  HOME"  313 

to  be  grateful  for  those  appropriate  and  fault- 
lessly fitting  gowns. 

And  so  it  is  with  all  her  dresses,  as  witness 
her  quiet  heliotrope  when  contrasted  with  the 
pink  and  the  roses  of  her  unconscious  young 
rival  in  "  The  Elder  Miss  Blossom." 

And  then  the  Kendals  are  as  much  at  home 
when  they  are  away  from  home.  If  you  go  to 
see  them,  as  I  have  so  often  done,  in  provincial 
hotels,  they  are  invariably  surrounded  by  some 
of  their  household  gods.  The  same  homely  com- 
forts, the  same  genial  hospitahty,  the  same  warm 
handshake  to  an  old  friend — all  are  there. 

And  in  their  intervals  of  leisure  she  is  busy 
wath  her  needlework ;  and  he  at  the  window, 
sketch-book  in  hand,  is  making  an  admirable 
study  of  "over  the  way."  His  unique  collection 
of  such  drawings  from  all  sorts  of  hotel  outlooks 
must  some  day  be  published. 


CHAPTEE  XI 

PICKING    UP   THE    THEEADS. 

TN  writing  about  the  Kendals'  experiences  in 
America,  I,  in  a  way,  missed  the  thread  of 
my  story,  for  in  the  intervals  between  those  far- 
off  tours  they  did  a  vast  amount  of  work  in 
England,  and  produced  many  new  plays  that 
demand  record.  Though  on  the  termination  of 
his  partnership  with  Mr.  Hare,  Mr.  Kendal 
resolved  to  throw  aside  the  cares  of  a  permanent 
management,  he  has  organised  seasons  at  the 
Court,  Avenue,  Garrick,  and  St.  James's 
theatres ;  and  has  most  industriously  continued 
his  provincial  tours,  embracing  in  them  the 
smaller  English  towns  as  well  as  the  great 
manufacturing  centres.  "Why  all  this  hard 
work  ?  "  is  a  question  often  asked  by  the  curious. 
The  answer  is  that  the  Kendals  love  their  art 
and  are  happy  in  its  pursuit. 

"  The  Weaker  Sex,"  by  A.  W.  Pinero,  was 


316  THE   KENDALS 

produced  by  them  at  Manchester  on  September 
28,  1888 — that  is  to  say  before  their  first  visit  to 
America.  The  play  had  been  completed  in  1884, 
and  had  been  offered  to  Mr.  John  Clayton  and 
Mr.  Arthur  Cecil,  who  were  then  in  manage- 
ment at  the  Court  Theatre ;  but  they  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  their  patrons  wanted  a 
lighter  form  of  entertainment,  and  declined  it  in 
favour  of  the  same  author's  "The  Magistrate." 
When,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  four  years,  it 
was  offered  to  the  Kendals  they  felt  that  it 
would  suit  them,  and  accepted  it. 

In  1860,  in  one  of  the  earliest  numbers  of  the 
Cornhill  Magazine^  appeared  some  verses  entitled 
"  Unspoken  Dialogue,"  signed  by  E.  Monckton 
Milnes,  in  which  the  terrible  position  of  a 
mother — 

"  Pour  decades  o'er  her  life  had  met, 
And  left  her  lovely  still  " — 

and  daughter  in  love  with  the  same  man  was 
forcibly  described.  This  was  the  theme  that, 
with  characteristic  boldness,  Mr.  Pinero  had 
chosen  for  "The  Weaker  Sex,"  and  since  his 
dialogue  was  perforce  spoTieii,  the  difficulties  of 
the  case  were  a  hundredfold  increased.  The 
writer   of    the   poem   escaped   from   the   tangle 


PICKING    UP    THE    THREADS  317 

created  by  the  unfortunate  but  by  no  means 
impossible  state  of  affairs  by  causing  the  mother 
to  yield  in  favour  of  her  child ;  the  dramatist 
dealt  with  it  in  two  ways.  At  the  outset  he 
gave  his  play  the  conventional  "happy  ending," 
but,  finding  this  unsatisfactory,  he  altered  the 
cUnoueDient  and  brought  the  curtain  down  on  a 
picture  of  sorrow. 

Mr.  Kendal,  too,  seemed  uncertain  about  his 
part.  At  first  he  played  Dudley  Silchester,  the 
good  genius  of  the  piece,  but  afterwards  aban- 
doned it  for  the  less  popular  character  of  Ira 
Lee,  the  poet,  and  the  beloved  of  the  two 
unhappy  women.  The  sacrifice  was  no  doubt 
for  the  good  of  the  play,  but  though  he  acted 
the  difficult  part  with  his  usual  tact  and  taste, 
it  could  not  add  to  his  fame.  Mrs.  Kendal 
undertook  a  very  trying  task. 

Lady  Vivash  is  a  woman  who,  in  a  moment 
of  girlish  folly,  has  wrecked  the  happiness  of 
her  life,  and  who  finds  a  bar  to  its  renewal  in 
the  offspring  of  her  loveless  union.  That 
throughout  the  representation  of  such  a  complex 
character  as  this  the  actress  should  be  consis- 
tently womanly,  tender,  and  always  in  sympathy 
with  her  audience  spoke  volumes  for  her  skill. 
In  the  really  great  scenes  in  which  this  hapless 


318  THE  KENDALS 

heroine  met  her  old  lover,  recognised  that  he 
was  the  man  spoken  of  as  the  bridegroom-elect 
of  her  own  daughter,  made  her  sacrifice  on  the 
girl's  behalf,  and  pleaded  with  the  man  for  her 
child's  happiness,  Mrs.  Kendal  played  with 
matchless  art. 

After  its  trial  trip  in  the  comitry  "The  Weaker 
Sex  "  was,  on  March  16,  1889,  produced  at  the 
Court  Theatre.  The  Kendals  were  admirably 
supported  by  a  company  that  included  Mr.  W. 
H.  Yernon  (who  gave  an  admirable  render- 
ing of  the  part  originally  played  by  Mr.  Kendal), 
Mr.  Edward  Eighton,  Miss  Violet  Vanbrugh, 
and  Miss  Annie  Hughes.  But  its  subject  was 
against  it,  and  although  enthusiastically  received 
and  greatly  admired  by  the  critical  "  The 
Weaker  Sex  "  did  not  enjoy  a  prolonged  London 
run.  In  America  the  play  was  highly  success- 
ful. 

It  was  on  the  autumn  tour  of  1888  that  Mr. 
Kendal  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  Charles 
Mathews's  once  famous  part  of  Mr.  Gatherwool. 
It  so  often  falls  to  his  lot  to  play  serious  parts 
that  one  is  apt  to  forget  what  an  admirable  light 
comedian  he  is,  but  those  who  have  seen  his  Mr. 
Dabchick  in  "How  to  Make  Home  Happy,"  or 
his  Hugh  de  Brass,  in  "A  Kegular  Fix,"  know 


PICKING    UP   THE   THE E ADS  319 

that  he  is  most  happily  quahfied  to  represent 
characters  identilied  with  the  name  of  the  most 
mercurial  of  actors.  He  certainly  grasped  to 
perfection  the  eccentricities  of  the  absent-minded 
Mr.  Gather  wool,  and,  though  the  farce  was 
found  to  be  crude  (indeed  it  is  little  more  than  a 
sketch),  the  impersonation  w^as  irresistible.  The 
vacant  look  of  the  preoccupied  and  foggy-minded 
individual  was  admirably  conveyed,  and  his 
half-unconscious  actions  Vv'ere  most  easily  and 
naturally  managed. 

Another  play  belonging  to  this  period,  and  pro- 
duced during  the  season  at  the  Court  Theatre, 
was  Mr.  Sydney  Grundy's  comedy  "A  White 
Lie."  It  is  a  play  written  in  its  author's 
happiest  vein — its  dialogue  is  terse  and  spark- 
ling— and  it  provided  the  Kendals  with  two  of 
those  finely  drawn  yet  homelike  comedy  cha- 
racters in  which  the  public  love  to  see  them.  In 
Kate  Desmond  Mrs.  Kendal  found  one  of  her 
favourite  comedy  characters.  Mr.  Grundy's 
heroine  is  the  ideal  queen  of  a  happy  home,  and 
her  bright  presence  and  buoyant  spirits  were 
absolutely  infectious.  There  were  moments  in 
this  play  that  struck  me  as  amongst  the  best 
things  she  had  done.  The  naive  manner  in 
which  she  told  her  husband  of   her   girlhood's 


320  THE  KENDALS 

engagement  to  another  man  was  admirable  ;  her 
little  outburst  of  grief  as  she  sat  at  the  piano 
after  the  departure  of  her  dearly  loved  lord,  while 
her  child  danced  her  doll  to  the  accompaniment 
of  her  music,  was  ineffably  touching  ;  and  the 
scene  in  the  last  act  in  which,  little  by  little, 
she  confessed  the  "white  lie"  (on  which  the 
plot  of  the  play  hinges)  and  its  consequences 
was  the  very  perfection  of  comedy  acting. 

Mr.  Kendal  had  a  part  founded  on  the  effec- 
tive John  Mildmay  lines.  Sir  George  Molyneux 
is  always  requiring  a  nap,  but  he  sleeps  with 
one  eye  open,  and  is  the  deiis  ex  macliind  of  the 
story.  Few  actors  could  bestow  on  the  cha- 
racter the  exact  degree  of  ease,  polish,  and 
carefully  subdued  strength  of  will  that  it 
requires.  Exaggerated  it  might  easily  degene- 
rate into  caricature.  Carefully  and  artistically 
handled  as  it  was  by  Mr.  Kendal,  it  became  a 
really  valuable  stage  study. 

On  September  18,  1890,  it  was  my  good 
fortune  to  be  in  the  Prince  of  Wales's  Theatre, 
Birmingham,  when  Mrs.  Kendal  (there  was  no 
part  for  Mr.  Kendal  in  the  play)  appeared  for 
the  first  time  in  a  one-act  drama  from  the  pen 
of  an  author  who  chose  to  hide  his  identity 
under  the  nom-de-'plume  of  X.  L.,  entitled  "  It 


I'hoto  bijl 


MRS.   KENDAX   IX    181)9. 


[Elliott  d-  Fnj. 


PICKING    UP   THE   THBEADS  321 

was  a  Dream."  It  had  a  curious  little  history. 
It  was  originally  written  in  French,  and,  under 
the  title  of  "La  Fin  du  .Bonheur,"  was  accepted 
for  production  by  the  critical  committee  of  the 
Comedie  Fran9aise.  Pending  its  opportunity 
there  the  author  translated  it  into  English,  and 
Mrs.  Kendal  saw  in  the  principal  character  a 
part  that  she  desired  to  play.  Why  she  has  not 
played  it  over  and  over  again  is  a  mystery  I 
have  never  been  able  to  fathom. 

Mrs.  Kendal's  part  was  that  of  a  loving  and 
confiding  wife  who,  through  misrepresentation 
and  misunderstanding,  becomes  the  prey  of 
jealousy.  We  saw  the  unhappy  woman  at  first 
fighting  against  the  green-eyed  monster,  and 
then  step  by  step,  and  as  scraps  of  damning 
circumstantial  evidence  were  brought  home  to 
her,  yielding  to  its  power,  until  she  sank  down 
in  a  very  agony  of  despair.  How  really  great 
Mrs.  Kendal  was  in  this  scene  is  difficult  to 
describe.  As  one  watched  her  ever-changing 
face,  and  noted  the  nervous  action  of  her  hands 
and  tortured  restlessness  of  body,  one  seemed  to 
share  in  the  horrible  torment  of  her  mind,  and 
to  feel  the  heat  of  the  burning  fire  that  was 
consuming  her  very  soul.  There  was  no  straining 
after  effect,  no  trick  of  theatrical  art  was  brought 
22 


322  THE    KENDALS 

into  use  ;  it  was  simply  the  faithful  picture  of 
an  agonised  wife  and  heart-broken  woman  who 
in  one  moment  is  compelled  to  think  that  her 
husband  is  a  scoundrel,  and  that  her  home  and 
happiness  are  ruined. 

Luckily  the  author  gave  the  piece  a  happy 
ending,  and  at  the  fall  of  the  curtain  there  was 
a  great  demonstration.  The  applause  was  tumul- 
tuous, and  the  packed  audience  was  not  satisfied 
until  Mrs.  Kendal  had  reappeared  some  three  or 
four  times,  and  told  them  in  a  pretty  little  speech 
that  "it  was  the  first  time  she  had  appeared  as 
a  jealous  wife,  and  that  she  hoped  to  be  more 
perfect  in  the  part  by  and  by." 

As  people  went  away  from  the  theatre  that 
night  they  were  saying  to  each  other,  "Oh!  if 
Mrs.  Kendal  had  been  a  man,  how  wonderfully 
she  would  have  played  Othello  !  "  Mrs.  Kendal 
has  not  even  ambitioned,  as  many  actresses  do, 
to  play  Hamlet,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  she  has  carefully  studied  that  magnificently 
drawn  character  and,  in  lecture  form,  given  her 
opinions  concerning  it.  A  very  refined  and 
attractive  picture  she  made  on  the  evening  when, 
plainly  dressed  in  black  silk,  and  without  any 
decoration  in  her  auburn  hair,  she  appeared  at 
the  Westbourne  Park  Institute  to  give  her  views 


PICKING    UP   THE    THREADS  323 

on  Shakespeare's  masterpiece — "  Poor  things," 
she  declared,  "  but  her  own." 

In  the  course  of  a  most  interesting  address 
she  protested  against  the  generally  averred 
opinion  that  Shakespeare  was  a  bad  actor. 
His  instructions  to  actors,  she  said,  would 
remain  authoritative  for  all  time.  Then,  in 
holiday  humour,  she  recited  those  instructions, 
"suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  the  word  to 
the  action."  "Assuming,"  she  declared,  "that 
Shakespeare  was  a  perfect  representative  of  the 
ghost  in  '  Hamlet,'  he  could  not  have  been  so 
unless  he  had  the  physical  qualities  which 
rendered  him  fit  for  other  parts." 

Without  entertaining  a  shadow  of  doubt  as  to 
the  genuineness  of  the  poet,  and  treating  Hamlet 
as  a  psychological  study,  the  attractive  lecturer 
regarded  him  as  a  human  sensitive  plant  com- 
posed of  high  intellect,  of  nervous  temperament, 
rendered  morbid,  like  all  such  natures,  by  a 
quick  sensibility.  "  Yet  the  pride  of  our  great 
dramatist,"  she  said  later  on,  "was  not  in  his 
philosophy,  but  in  his  lifelike  delineation  of 
character."  The  stronger  passages  of  the  play, 
"so  full  of  quotations,"  were  robustly  discussed 
and  illustrated  by  perfect  reading,  while  its 
livelier  phases  were  given  sympathetically. 


324  THE  KENDALS 

Another  success  for  the  Kendals  was  the 
welcome  revival  of  Messrs.  Herman  Merivale 
and  Palgrave  Simpson's  fine  play,  "All  For 
Her,"  in  which,  in  the  "  seventies,"  Mr.  John 
Clayton  had  made  such  a  marked  success.  This 
play  was  founded  on  Dickens's  "  Tale  of  Two 
Cities,"  and  its  hero,  Hugh  Trevor,  was  an 
avowed  reproduction  of  Sydney  Carton,  though, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  collaborators  had  deftly 
contrived  to  blend  their  plot  with  that  of 
Thackeray's  "  Henry  Esmond."  It  is  an 
excellent  piece  of  stagecraft,  and  it  gave  Mr. 
Kendal  a  fine  chance.  Every  one  knew  that 
he  would  be  admirable  in  the  comedy  moods  of 
the  complex  character  he  had  undertaken  to 
play,  but  few  were  prepared  for  the  intensity  of 
the  power,  or  the  delicacy  of  the  pathos  that  he 
displayed  in  the  later  scenes.  In  the  character 
of  Lady  Marsden  Mrs.  Kendal  acted  with  her 
usual  charm  and  sincerity,  but  it  cannot  be 
said  that  the  part  was  worthy  of  her. 

In  Birmingham,  on  the  2nd  of  December, 
1892,  the  Kendals  produced  Mr.  Henry  J.  W. 
Dam's  drama,  "  Prince  KaraJjoff."  As  its  title 
indicated,  this  was  a  play  that  dealt  with  those 
Kussian  conspiracies  that  have  often  proved 
theatrically  effective.     It  contained  some  good 


PICKING    UP   THE   THREADS  325 

character-drawing,  several  exciting  scenes,  and, 
here  and  there,  excellent  acting  opportunities. 
Stepping  out  of  his  usual  line  of  characters,  Mr. 
Kendal  looked  and  played  the  part  of  the 
elderly  General  Karatoff  with  exemplary  care 
and  finesse,  and  Mrs.  Kendal  had  moments  in 
which  she  rose  to  the  height  of  true  tragedy. 
But  the  one  really  original  character  in  the  play 
was  that  of  a  benevolent  old  maker  of  infernal 
machines,  and  it  was  excellently  acted  by  Mr. 
C.  P.  Huntley. 

In  connection  with  this  first  performance  of 
Mr.  Dam's  play,  which  was  most  enthusiastically 
received,  I  must  relate  a  little  anecdote  illus- 
trative of  Mrs.  Kendal's  wonderful  presence  of 
mind.  There  was  a  scene  in  which  she  was 
compelled  to  bid  a  long  farewell  to  her  child. 
On  her  knees,  she  clasped  him  to  her  breast, 
while  the  attendants,  who  had  orders  to  take  the 
boy  away,  impatiently  waited  at  the  back.  The 
last  tender,  lingering  embrace  was  given  in  the 
presence  of  a  hushed  house,  and  the  child  was 
almost  forcibly  led  from  its  agonised  mother's 
arms.  In  order  not  to  see  this  sad  exit  Mrs. 
Kendal  had,  apparently,  closed  her  eyes,  but  she 
opened  them,  when  a  most  unexpected  titter  ran 
through  the  audience.    I,  who  knew  her  so  well, 


326  THE  KENBALS 

realised  what  the  nervous  look  on  her  face 
meant.  Had  the  situation,  and  her  handling 
of  it,  failed  ?  Then,  in  an  instant,  she  grasped 
the  cause  of  the  unseemly  giggles.  In  going 
out  the  child's  cap  had  most  awkwardty  fallen 
off  its  head  and  remained  upon  the  stage.  Mrs. 
Kendal  knew  exactly  what  to  do.  With  a  loving 
cry  she  seized  the  cap,  covered  it  mth  kisses, 
and  pressed  it  to  her  heart.  She  at  once  killed 
the  irreverent  laughter,  and  the  applause  that 
followed  was  not  unmingled  with  tears.  Every 
one  thought  that  the  effect,  instead  of  being 
sheer  accident,  had  been  most  carefully  arranged, 
and  I  even  heard  the  author  complimented  on 
having  invented  a  very  original  piece  of  stage 
business  ! 

The  sequel  to  the  story  is  funny.  A  long,  long 
time  was  supposed  to  elapse  before  Mrs.  Kendal, 
in  her  character  of  Katherine  Yail,  was  destined 
to  see  her  child  again ;  but,  when  at  last  it  was 
restored  to  her,  it  was  wearing  the  same  caj) ! 
Happily  the  audience  did  not  notice  the  blunder, 
but  I  could  see  the  little  look  of  dismay  on  Mrs. 
Kendal's  face.  When,  after  the  piece  was  over, 
I  went  "round"  to  offer  her  my  congratula- 
tions, she  was  good-humouredly  upbraiding  the 
"  dresser  "  who  had  made  the  mistake.     "  How 


PICKING    UP   THE   TUBE  ADS  327 

could  you  !  how  couhJ  you  !  "  she  cried.  "  Don't 
you  know  that  for  months  and  months  of  trial 
and  torment  that  cap  has  been  worn  upon 
my  heart,  and  yet  you  send  the  boy  home 
in  it !  " 

Under  the  title  of  "  The  Silver  Shell  "  "  Prince 
Karatoff "  was  produced  in  London  at  the  Avenue 
Theatre,  and  it  was  then  that  Mr.  William 
Ai'cher,  catching  the  tragic  note  that  she  un- 
deniably struck,  said:  "If  we  are  to  have  a  Lady 
Macbeth,  a  Volumnia,  a  Constance,  in  the  present 
generation,  Mrs.  Kendal  is  the  woman.  Having 
been  our  Mrs.  Jordan,  why  should  she  not  become 
our  Mrs.  Siddons  ?  " 

It  was  in  the  September  of  1893  that  I  went 
to  Liverpool  to  see  my  friends  in  a  two-act  play 
from  the  brilliant  pen  of  Mr.  E.  C.  Carton  en- 
titled "  The  Fall  of  the  Leaf."  This,  which  was 
practically  a  Kendal  duologue,  very  gracefully 
told  the  old  story  of  a  girl  who,  believing  her 
first  lover  to  be  dead,  is  induced,  against  her 
inclinations,  to  marry  another  man.  Then,  of 
course,  the  old  lover  reappears,  the  young  wife  is 
tempted  to  go  away  with  him,  and  at  the  last 
moment  responds  to  the  call  of  duty.  All  this 
was  very  cleverly  portrayed ;  the  little  piece  was 
perfectly  acted,  and  most  cordially  received.     I 


328  THE   KENDALS 

have  often  wondered  why  I  have  never  heard  of 
it  again. 

Although  I  have  heard  numbers  of  thoughtless 
people  lightly  speak  of  Mr.  Sydney  Grundy's 
"The  Greatest  of  These"  as  a  dull  stage 
sermon,  it  undoubtedly  contains  some  of  that 
gifted  and  trenchant  author's  most  brilliant 
work,  and  for  me  it  has  always  had  a  peculiar 
fascination,  as  it  would  for  any  one  familiar 
with  the  dreary  routine  of  Nonconformist  life 
in  an  English  provincial  town.  No  doubt 
it  is  in  some  senses  a  peculiar  play.  It  does 
not  depend  upon  theatrical  situations,  and 
in  the  way  of  scenery  and  costume  it  offers 
little  that  appeals  to  the  eye,  but  it  shows 
character-drawing  and  a  knowledge  of  human 
nature  worthy  of  all  admiration.  Mr.  Grrundy's 
characters  were  surely  studied  from  the  life,  and 
he  might  have  taken  for  his  text  Coleridge's 
words,  "  Experience,  like  the  stern  lights  of  a 
ship,  illuminates  the  track  over  which  we  have 
passed." 

Who  does  not  know  the  father  of  the  Charles 
Dickens  "  Gradgrind  "  type — a  praiseworthy 
and  estimable  man  from  many  points  of  view, 
but  a  sorry  hearthmate  for  a  young,  impulsive, 
and  imao-inative   wife  ?     With   the  best   of  in 


Photo  by] 


Ml!.    KDNDAL    IN    18'J'J. 


[Elliott  d-Frii.    ;  J 


PICKING    UP   THE   THREADS  329 

tentions,  and  ever  pluming  himself  on  his  own 
self-abnegation  and  respectability,  he  unwittingly 
crushes  the  joy  out  of  the  hves  of  all  who  depend 
upon  him,  and  by  reason  of  his  own  prim  good- 
ness unknowingly  teaches  his  wife  and  children 
to  fear  and  deceive  him.  Oh  yes  !  he  is  an 
everyday  character,  and  he  was  admirably 
portrayed  by  Mr.  Kendal.  "  He  has  an  um- 
brella, mother,"  says  his  daughter,  as  she 
looks  at  him  through  the  window.  "Was 
father  born  with  an  umbrella?"  It  is  the 
keynote  to  her  father's  character.  Who  does 
not  know  the  sort  of  man  who  seems  to  have 
been  born  with  an  umbrella?  Y/ho  does  not 
know  the  sort  of  life  that  that  excellent 
person  may  be  expected  to  lead?  Who  does 
not  know  how  that  umbrella  will  get  into  the 
way  of  other  people?  "Our  duty,"  sighs  his 
poor  father-taught  daughter,  "  is  always  to  do 
what  we  don't  want  to ;  and  if  we  do  want  to, 
then  it  is  not  our  duty."  As  the  sorely  tried 
but  sometime  errant  wife  Mrs.  Kendal  played 
with  her  accustomed  power  and  sincerity,  but 
I  always  thought  the  author  might  have  dealt 
more  tenderly  with  the  character.  The  acting 
honours  of  the  play,  and  they  were  high  ones, 
were  carried  off  by  Mr.  Kendal. 


330  THE  KENDALS 

"  The  Greatest  of  These  "  was  produced  at 
Hull  in  the  autumn  of  1895,  and  after  a  suc- 
cessful provincial  tour  found  its  London  home 
at  the  Garrick  Theatre. 

To  this  ever-growing  list  of  new  plays  must 
be  added  Mr.  Allen  Upward's  "  A  Flash 
in  the  Pan"  (afterwards  renamed  "A  Cruel 
Heritage")  and  Mr.  Walter  Frith's  "Not 
Wisely  but  Too  Well."  Both  contain  excel- 
lent work,  and  no  doubt  both  will  be  seen 
again. 

But  the  gem  of  their  new  collection  is  Messrs. 
Ernest  Hendrie  and  Metcalfe  Wood's  charming 
three-act  comedy,  "  The  Elder  Miss  Blossom." 
In  this,  if  I  mistake  not,  both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kendal  have  found  parts  that  they  will  be  able 
to  play  for  many  a  long  year  to  come.  As  Andrew 
Quick  Mr.  Kendal  has  one  of  those  comedy 
characters  that  suit  him  so  well,  and  as  Dorothy 
Blossom  Mrs.  Kendal  is — there  is  no  other  word 
for  it — fascinating. 

It  is  a  well-drawn  as  well  as  a  most 
natural  character.  Most  of  us  know  the  good 
and  lovable  maiden  "  auntie"  who  lavishes  her 
affections  on  her  brothers  and  sisters  and  their 
children,  but  who,  maybe,  has  a  warm  place  in 
her  heart  of  hearts  for  the  imaginary  husband 


PICKING    UP   THE   THREADS  331 

and  little  ones  of  her  own  that  in  her  middle  age 
are  denied  to  her.     It  was  a  good  idea  to  put 
such  an  everyday  and  sweet-natured  soul  into  a 
play  ;    it  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  the  clever 
authors  of  "  The  Elder  Miss  Blossom  "  that  they 
found  Mrs.  Kendal  willing  to  give  it  Hfe.    In  the 
face  of  her  long  series  of  stage  triumphs  it  seems 
a  bold  thing  to  say,  and  yet  I  beheve  that  Mrs. 
Kendal  has  never  presented  a  more  perfect  pic- 
ture than  in  the  second  act  of  "  The  Elder  Miss 
Blossom."     She  has  no  exquisitely  written  and 
weight-carrying  lines  to  dehver,  as  in  the  never- 
to-be-forgotten  Galatea  days.     She  has,  by  the 
sheer  force  of  acting,  to  lay  bare  the  working  of 
a  true  and  sensitive  woman's  heart,  crushed  by 
an  unexpected  blow.     There  is  no  striving  after 
effect  in  this  unique  performance— it  is  as  quietly 
as  it  is  wonderfully  done.     The  delicacy  of  its 
pathos   has   never    been    excelled,    and  it   goes 
home  to  the  hearts  of  her   spectators.     She  is 
equally  admirable  too  in  the  happier  moments 
given  to  the  character,  and  nothing  more  touch- 
ing than  the  scene  in  w^hich  she  receives  the 
presents  for  the   wedding   w^hich   the  audience 
know  is  so  unlikely  to  be   hers  has  been  seen 
on  the  stage. 

Ah !    sweet,   brave,   Dorothy  Blossom  !     She 


332  THE  KENDALS 

must  have  known  by  heart  Cowper's  beautifully 
summed-up  thought — 

"  Oh  !   if  the  selfish  knew  how  much  they  lost, 
What  would  they  not  endeavour,  not  endure. 
To  imitate  as  far  as  in  them  lay, 
Him  who  his  wisdom  and  his  power  employs 
In  making  others  happy." 

After  their  usual  trip  in  the  country  the 
Kendals  took  "  The  Elder  Miss  Blossom  "  to 
the  St.  James's  Theatre,  and  they  might  have 
been  playing  the  piece  there  still  if  Mr.  Alexander 
had  not  been  compelled  to  reappear  on  his  own 
boards.  After  their  last  performance  to  a  crowded 
and  delighted  audience  a  leading  critic  wrote  : 
"Unluckily  for  all  who  love  genuine  art,  '  Miss 
Blossom  '  has  to  retire.  She  has  been  the  noblest 
thing  of  the  dramatic  year,  the  one  emphatic 
proof  that  Mrs.  Kendal  is  the  greatest  actress  we 
possess." 

Yes — without  perhaps  quite  realising  it — the 
Kendals  have  to  their  fullest  extent  exercised 
their  power  of  "making  others  happy,"  and  to 
Mrs.  Kendal  I  would  commend  the  words  of 
Hazlitt  when  he  wrote  of  the  farewell  per- 
formance of  Mrs.  Siddons  : — 

"  She  was  not  only  the  idol  of  the  people,  she 
not  only  hushed  the  tumultuous  shouts  of  the  pit 


PICKING    UP   THE   THREADS  333 

in  breathless  expectation,  and  quenched  the 
blaze  of  surrounding  beauty  in  silent  tears, 
but  to  the  retired  and  lonely  student,  through 
long  years  of  solitude,  her  face  has  shone  as  if  an 
angel  appeared  from  heaven  ;  her  name  has  been 
as  if  a  voice  had  opened  the  chamber  of  the 
human  heart,  or  as  if  a  trumpet  had  awakened 
the  sleeping  and  the  dead.  To  have  seen  Mrs. 
Siddons  was  an  event  in  every  one's  life  ;  and 
does  she  think  we  have  forgot  her  ?  " 

And  to  have  seen  the  Kendals  has  been  an 
event  in  most  of  our  lives — and  they  will  not  be 
forgotten. 

As  Bret  Harte  beautifully  says — 

"  Never  a  tear  bedims  the  eye 
That  time  and  patience  will  not  dry ; 
Never  a  lip  is  curved  with  pain 
That  can't  be  kissed  into  smiles  again." 

By  their  consummate  art  the  Kendals  have 
dried  many  tears  and  have  revivified  many  smiles ; 
and,  although  they  may  not  be  conscious  of  it, 
their  names  are  as  household  words  among  the 
multitudes  who,  all  unknown  to  them,  have 
learned  to  love  them. 

FINIS. 


INDEX 


AcHARD,    Frkdbric,    159,    160, 

161,  207 
Addison,  Carlotta,  111 
Aide,  Hamilton,  101,  102 
Aldridge,  Ira,  42 
Alexander,  George,  162,  273,  332 
"  All  for  Her,"  288,  324 
Anderson,  James,  9 
Anson,  G.  W.,  222 
Anstey,  F.,  149 

"  A:itoinette  Eigaud,"  212,  213 
Archer,  William,  121,  279,  327 
"  As  You  LUie  It,"   11,  53,  81, 

98,  205,  208 
Atkinson,  Miss,  40,  41 
Augier,  Emile,  146 

Bancroft,  L.^dy,  37,   107,  110, 

112,  121,  199 
Bancroft,  Sir  Squire,  4,  107, 110. 

119,  121.  199 
Bandmann,  Herr,  10 
Barnes,  J.,  213 
Bateman,  Miss,  10 
Bedford,  H.,  223 
Beere,  Mrs.  Bernard,  153 
Bernliardt,  Sarah,  208,  263 
"  Black  Eyed  Susan,"  134,  135, 

136,  137^ 
Blouet,  Paul,  75 


Boucicault,  Dion,  9,  109,  110 

Brandon,  Thomas,  154 

Bret  Harte,  213,  333 

"  Broken  Hearts,"  102,  103 

Brooke,  G.  V.,  9,  38 

Brookfield,  C,  211 

Brough,  Lionel,  91 

Brough,  Miss  Fanny,  227 

Brough,  William,  43,  45 

Buchanan,  Eobert,  76 

Buckstone,  J.  B.,  9,  23,  39,  51, 

52,  77 
Burnand,  F.  C,  10,  159 
Burnett,  Mrs.  Hodgson,  162 

Campbell,  Mrs.  Patrick,  273, 

274 
"  Cape  Mail,  The,'  147 
Carr,  Comyns,  153 
Carton,  E.  C,  327 
Cartwright,  C,  211 
Cathcart,  F.  J.,  37 
Cathcart,  E.,  100,  213,  220,  223 
Cavendish,  Miss  A<la,  222,  224 
Cecil,  Ai-thur,  96,  99,  108,  111, 

112,  121 
Celeste,  Madame,  38 
Chamberlain,    Eight    Hon.    J., 

234-248 
"  Charity,"  73,  74 


336 


INDEX 


Chippendale,  W.  H.,  23,  53,  59 

Gibber,  CoUey,  51 

Clayton,  John,  52, 100, 121,  141, 

324 
Coghlan,   Charles,   37,  38,  100, 

138,  141 
Coghlan,  Miss  Rose,  258 
Compton,  Edward,  60 
Compton,  Hem-y,  11,  23,  54,  58, 

60,75 
Cook,  Button,  135 
"  Coralie,"  143,  144,  146,  147 
Coquelin,  258 
"  Country  Girl,  The,"  58 
"  Cruel  Heritage,  A,"  330 
Cushnian,  Miss,  38 

Dacre,  Arthur,  159 

Dam,  H.  J.  W.,  324,  825 

"  Dangerous  Friend,  A,"  9 

"  David  Garrick,"  47 

De  Keranion,  147 

De  Musset,  51 

D'Ennery,  213 

Delpit,  Albert,  143 

Desborough,  Miss,  38 

Dickens,    Charles,    16,   33,   97, 

109,  203,  324,  328 
Dietz,  Miss  Linda,  157,  213 
Dillon,  Charles,  38 
"  Diplomacy,"  120,  122 
"  Dreams,"  52 
Duboiu'g,  A.  W.,  64,  73 
Dumanoir,  147 
Dumas,  Alexandre,  144,  145 

"  East  Lynne,"  81,  84,  85 
Edwards,  Sutherland,  218 
"Elder    Miss    Blossom,   The," 

313,  330-332 
Eldred,  Joseph,  52 

"  Fall  of  the  Leaf,  The,"  327 
"  Far  from  the  Madding  Crowd," 
148,  152,  153 


Farren,  Miss  Nellie,  52 
Faucit,  Miss  Helen,  9 
Fawsitt,  Miss  Amy,  100 
Fechter,  9 

Fernandez,  James,  40 
Feuillet,  Octave,  50,  112,  138 
Finlay,  F.  D.,  237 
"  Flash  in  the  Pan,  A,"  330 
"  Forget-Me-Not,"  275 
"  Frightful  Hair,  The,"  10 
Frith,  Walter,  330 
Frohman,  Daniel,  234,  270,  272, 


Gilbert,  W.  S.,  66,  67,  68,  69, 

102    104,  219 
Gillette,  W.  H.,  162 
Godfrey,  G.  W.,  74,  124,   143, 

146 
"  Good  Fortune,"  138 
"  Great  City,  The,"  45,  46 
"Greatest  of  These,  The,"  328, 

829,  330 
Grove,  F.  C,  275 
Grundy,  Sydney,  213,  319,  328 

Hading,  Jane,  263 
"  Hamlet,"  40,  322,  323 
Halliday,  Andrew,  45 
Hardy,  Thomas,  148,  152 
Hare,   John,   91,   99,   100,  101, 

104,   105,   120-126,    127-163, 

205-231,  251,  273 
"  Heir-at-Law,  The,"  53 
H.  M.  Queen  Victoria,  219,  220, 

221 
Hendrie,  Ernest,  211,  213,  223, 

330 
"  Hero  of  Romance,  A,"  50,  51, 

138 
"  His  First  Champagne,"  59 
"  His  Own  Enemy,"  73 
"  Hobby  Horse,  The,"  216,  217 
Hodson,  Miss  Henrietta,  87,  38 


INDEX 


337 


HoUingshead,  John,  51,  96 
HoUingshead,  Miss  Bessie,  100, 

104 
"Home,"  146 
Honey,  George,  111 
"  How  to  make  Home  Happy," 

59 
Howe,  Henry,  54,  58,  225 
Hughes,  Miss  Annie,  318 
Huntly,  C.  P.,  325 

"  Impulse,"  157,  158,  159,  211 
"Ironmaster,   The,"    163,    262, 

263,  288 
Irving,  Sir  Hem-y,  91 
"  It  was  a  Dream,"  321 

James,  David,  2,  37 
Jefferson,  Joseph,  268 
Jerrold,  Blanchard,  136 
Jerrold,  Douglas,  134,  135,  186 

Kean,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles, 

9,  38,  41,  124,  225 
Keeley,  Mrs.,  225 
Kellv,  Charles,  100 
Kemble,  H.,  100 
Kervani,  157 
"  Kuig  John,"  40 
Ivnight,  Joseph,  102,  121 
Knowles,  Sheridan,  29,  82 

"Ladies'  Battle,  The,"  122, 
123,  138 

"Lady  Clancarty,"  221,  222, 
223,  288,  292,  293,  294 

'•Lady  Flora,"  100 

"Lady  of  Lyons,  The,"  45,  47, 
81,  82,  98,  143 

Legouve,  122 

Leigh,  Mrs.  Henry,  52 

Lind,  Jenny,  42 

"London  Assurance,"  109,  110, 
111 

Lovell,  George  W.,  225 


"  Macbeth,"  44 
Maclean,  John,  52 
Mackintosh,  J.,   122,  141,  154, 

224,  227 
Macready,  W.  C,  23,  203 
"  Madcap  rrmce.  A,"  76 
"  Mai-riage  at  any  Price,"  39 
Marston,  Dr.  Westland,  34,  50 
Marston,  Henry,  40 
"  Mary  Warner,"  9,  10 
Mathews,  C.  E.,  237 
Mathews,    Charles,   9,   38,   59, 

134,  318 
Max  O'Eell,  75 

"  Mayfair,"  209,  210,  211,  213 
Mayhew,  Athol,  75 
Mayhew,  Henry,  75 
Meadow,  A.,  73 
Melville,  George,  37 
Merivale,  Herman,  275,  324 
"Midsummer    Night's  Dream, 

A,"  38 
Modjeska,  Madame,  91,  310 
"  Money- Spimier,     The,"     141, 

142,  143,  148 
"  Monsieur  le  Due,"  128 
"  Mont  Blanc,"  75 
Montague,  H.  J.,  2 
Montgomery,    Walter,    39,   40, 

42,  43 
"  Mr.  Gather  wool,"  318,  319 
Murray,  Mrs.  Gaston,  223 

Neville,  Henry,  222 

"  New  Men  and  Old  Acres,"  63 

"  Nine  Days'  Wonder,  A,"  101, 

102 
"  Not  Wisely    but    too    Well," 


Ohnet,  Georges,  159,  263 
"  On  the  Cards,"  52 
"Orphan    of  the   Frozen   Sea, 
The."  35 


2a 


INDEX 


"  Othello,"  42 

"  Our  American  Cousin,"  46 

Paget,  F.  M.,  213 

"  Palace  of  Truth,  The,"  66,  67 

Parker,  Louis  N.,  151 

"  Passion  Flowers,"  51 

"  Peril,"  107,  108 

Phelps,  Samuel,  33,  38,  43,  44, 
45 

PhiUips,  Kate,  141 

Pierson,  Blanche,  258 

Piggott,  E.  F.,  160,  161 

Pinero,  A.  W.,  141,  142,  143, 
148,  149,  150,  152,  153,  154, 
163,  209,  216,  217,  263,  269, 
272,  276,  277,  278,  282,  284, 
287,  288,  312,  315,  316 

"  Poor  Gentleman,  The,"  53 

"  Prince  Karatoff,"  324,  327 

Prinsep,  Val,  128 

Proctor,  Miss  Adelaide,  150 

"  Progress,"  56 

"  Pygmalion  and  Galatea,"  67, 
68,  69,  70,  71 

"  Queen  Mab,"  75 
"Queen's    Shilling,    The,"  124, 
128,  147 

"  Ragged  Robin,"  151 
"  Raising  the  Wmd,"  59 
"  Regular  Fix,  A,"  133 
"  Richelieu,"  43 
"  Rightful  Heir,  The,"  10 
Righton,  Edward,  318 
Rignold,  George,  37,  38 
Rignold,  WilUam,  37,  38 
Ristori,  Madame,  91 
"  Rivals,  The,"  53 
Robertson,  Mrs.  Thomas,  21 
Robertson,  James,  13,  14 
Robertson,  Thomas,  21 
Robertson,  T.  W.,  8,  14,  21,  36, 
51,  52,  56,  57,  122,  146 


Robertson,  T.  W.,  the  Younger, 

147,  154 
Robertson,  WiUiam,  21,  23,  24, 

33,  34,  38,  44 
Rodgers,  James,  79,  81,  83,  91, 

92,93 
"  Romeo   and   Juliet,"   45,    81, 

82 
Rorke,  Miss  Mary,  100 
Rouse,  John,  37 
Russell,  Sir  Charles,  251 

j   Saker,  Edward,  5 
]   Sanger,  Rachel,  52 
Sardou,  Victorien,  104,  107, 112, 

203 
"  School  for  Scandal,  The,"  45, 

53 
Scott,    Clement,  107,  112,  117, 

118,  147 
"  Scrap  of  Paper,  A,"  105,  106, 

107,  121,  162,  253,  288 
"  Scribe,"  122 
"  Second  Mrs.  Tanqueray,  The," 

272-288 
"  Seven  Poor  Travellers,  The," 

36 
Shaw-Lefevre,    the    Hon.     G., 

168,  191,  201 
"  She  Stoops  to  Conquer,"  53, 

96 
"  She  wou'd  and  she  wou'd  not," 

51 
"  Sheep  in  Wolf's  Clothing,  A," 

43,  143 
Siddons,  Mrs.  Scott,  9 
"  Silver  Shell,  The,"  327 
Simpson,    Palgrave,    104,    105, 

324 
Smith,  Theyre  65,  220 
Social   Science  Congress,    164- 

204,  295 
"  Society,"  56,  57 
Sothern,  E.   A.,  9,  46,  48,  49, 

50,  51,  58,  134,  138,  302 


INDEX 


339 


Soutar.  Robert,  52 
Stephenson,   B.    C,    107,    117, 

118,  157,  159 
'•  Still  Waters  Run  Deep,"  130 

131,  132,  133,  288 
Stirling,  Arthur,  37 
"  Stranger,  The,"  36 
Stratfovd-on-Avon,  57 
Sullivan,  Sir  Arthur,  10 
"  Sweethearts,"  219 

Tarbk,  213 

Taylor,  Tom,  9,  43,  47,  64,  130, 

221 
Tennyson,  Lord,  128 
Terry,  Miss  Ellen,  2,  37,  38 
Terry,  Miss  Kate,  37 
Tliackeray,  W.  M.,  18,  204.  324 
"  The  Falcon,"  128-130 
"  The  Hunchback,"  81,  82 
"  The  Hypocrite,"  58,  61 
"The    Squire,"    148,    152     153, 

154,  269,  312 
Theatres,  Avenue,  315 

Bath,  37,  38 

Bu-mingham,  4,  79, 80, 155, 
321, 324 

Bradford,  39 

Bristol,  36,  37 

Court,  100,  121-126,  315 

Drury  Lane,  45 

Gaiety,  51 

Garrick,  315,  320 

Glasgow,  8 

Globe,  153 

Haymarket,  9,  46,  51,  52- 
77 

Hull,  43,  51,  330 

Leicester,  277 

Liverpool   131,  327 

Manchester,  10,  64 

Marylebone,  33,  34,  35 

Nottingham,  43 

Olympic,  222 

Opera  Comique,  96,  97 


Prince  of  Wales',  107,  108, 

109,  110,  111,  121 
Royalty,  2 
Sadlers  Wells,  33 
Saint  James',  127-163.  205- 
231,  315,  332 
Thorne,  Miss  Louisa,  38 
Toole,  J.  L.,  91,  92,  251,  302 
Tree,  Beerbohm,  40,  108,  151 
Tree,  Mrs.  Beerbohm,  151,  218, 

223 
"  Twelfth  Night,"  53 
"  Twenty    Minutes    under    an 
Umbrella,"  73 

"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  36 
"  Uncle's  Will,"  66,  81,  220 
Upward,  Allen,  330 

Vanbrugh,  Violet,  255,  318 
Vernon,  W.  H.,  37,  91,  222,  318 
Vestris,  Madame,  38,  109 
"  Vicarage,  The,"  112 

Wallack,  Lester,  255, 258,  260 
Wallack,  J.  W.,  33,  34 
Waller,  Lewis,  227 
Waring,  Herbert,  213,  217,  218, 

223 
Ward,  Miss  Genevieve,  91,  267, 

275 
Warner,  Mrs.  33 
Warren,  Ernest,  212 
"  Weaker  Sex,  The,"  315,  31  , 

818 
Webster,    Benjamin,    38,    124, 

225 
Webster,  Benjamin  the  Younger, 

223 
Webster,  Miss,  162,  213 
"Weeds,"  81,  86,  87,  91 
Wenman,  T.  N.,  154,  157,  255 
"  White  Lie,  A,"  319,  320 
"  Wicked  World,  The,"  72,  73 
"  Wife  WeU  Won,  A,"  49,   50 


340 


INDEX 


"Wife's    Sacrifice,    The,"   213, 

214,  215 
"  Wife's  Secret,  The,"  225,  226 
Wigan,  Alfred,  52,  105 
Wingfield,  The  Hon.  Lewis,  42 
"  Wild  Goose,  A,"  49 
"  William  and  Susan,"  135 
Wills,  W.  G.,  134,  135,  136,  137 
Wilton,  Marie,  37 


Wood,  Ai-thur,  37,  38 
Wood,  Metcalfe,  330 
Wyndham,  Charles,  2 

Xavier  de  Montepin,  157 


Young 
162 


Folk's    Ways,"   161, 


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